Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager
"This is a great result; a first podium in the wet for Jorge and at such a famous track. He rode very well today in difficult conditions, not only the rain but with high winds as well. He also had a very good pace at the end of the race when the conditions were at their worst so he did a great job, as did the team for finding the right set-up and Michelin for giving us the right tyres. It's great to be on the first MotoGP podium at Indianapolis and great for Yamaha to have two riders on the podium for the second race in a row. Congratulations once again to Jorge for a fantastic ride, well done to the team and of course well done to the other side of the garage and to Valentino for another great win."
Difficult day for Tech 3 Yamaha in stormy Indianapolis
The Tech 3 Yamaha team had a difficult day in atrocious conditions during a weather-hit inaugural Indianapolis MotoGP race today.
Texan Colin Edwards battled driving rain and fierce and unpredictable winds to claim 15th place, while British team-mate James Toseland couldn't convert a promising early part of the 28-lap race into a point-scoring finish.
Edwards recovered several positions as his confidence grew in the tricky conditions to keep his place in the top seven in the world championship standings.
Toseland had a strong start and found himself eighth for the opening laps, fighting hard to remain in contention with the group battling for fifth place. But as rain abated and parts of the new circuit started to dry, he was unable to sustain his impressive early speed with the changing conditions not suited to the set-up of his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine.
He finished 18th in the shortened race, which was halted with eight laps remaining with conditions rapidly deteriorating from lap 15 onwards. A planned eight-lap restart was abandoned because of the high winds.
Colin Edwards - Position: 15 Time: +1'00.613
"We spent too much time trying to make a new setting work, and because we'd had so much time on it we went for it in the race. But I couldn't get the bike to turn. My tyres felt great and I didn't have a problem with them at all, but I couldn't carry any corner speed. I'd get into the corner and I kept running wide. The only way to fix that is to go slower so you can hold the line and it wasn't really fun out there. I thought I'd got a good start and I got behind a couple of guys but everybody seemed to check up. They were right in front of me and the next thing I know, six guys are flying around the inside and outside of me. I was almost last by the second corner and I just put my head down to try and make some progress but I couldn't do anything. It is disappointing because I'm not out there not trying and running around in fifteenth. I'm out there trying my absolute hardest. The conditions were unbelievable. There was all kinds of debris at the end and you didn't know if it was gong to hit you because the wind was so unpredictable. It was a smart decision to stop it and maybe it could have come a lap or two earlier."
James Toseland - Position: 18 Time: +1'07.968
"I didn't get off the line very well but I was a bit aggressive into the first turn and went round the outside and passed a few people. I felt pretty good but when it wasn't raining and the track started to dry out, my lap times just stayed the same. And as it dried out everybody else got quicker and I couldn't go any faster. It was spinning and obviously I was a bit too soft with the rear setting. I had the same tyre as Andrea Dovizioso, so it was obviously the setting. I know I was running a softer setting than Colin and Jorge. When it was quite wet at the start it was obviously pretty good, but as it dried out it was just spinning. When it rained again I found a bit of pace again and could so similar times to the people in front, but by that time I'd lost a lot of places. At the end the wind was unbelievable. And the problem was it wasn't always in the same direction. It was totally unpredictable and it was gusting to the point where you had to anticipate something happening. They ran it for as long as they could but it was getting a bit hairy out there. It is a disappointing result but we'll move onto Japan for the next race, where I am obviously hoping to give Yamaha a positive result."
Herve Poncharal - Team Manager
"I am very disappointed with the race. We saw that a rider with our package has done really, really well. James started quite well but he started to lose a lot of ground while, Colin was again very cautious in the first laps like in Misano. When we remember what we were doing in the first part of the season and we see what we are doing now, I am not happy. We have to find some solutions because we shouldn't be finishing where we are. "Looking at the race it was run in incredibly difficult conditions. There will be some debate about whether the race should have been restarted but with safety the prime concern, I think it was the right decision because the wind was playing a big part. It is a shame that the 250 race wasn't run because the fans came to see all the races. But I'd like to thank everyone associated with the Indianapolis circuit. All the people who have worked with us have been trying tremendously hard to make this a fantastic weekend. Unfortunately the weather has played a big part and nobody deserved this. Finally, congratulations to Valentino for breaking the all-time winning record in MotoGP. It is an incredible achievement and great to see him do it riding for Yamaha."