Points for KONICA MINOLTA Honda at final MotoGP race of
2007
KONICA MINOLTA Honda took their last points of the year at
today’s final MotoGP race of 2007. Shinya Nakano took
14th place at the end of the 30-lap race around the 2.764-mile
Valencia circuit. Honda’s Dani Pedrosa won the race,
helping him to second-place in the riders’ championship.
Gianluca Montiron – Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda
“Our result today was not so good, but Shinya was fighting
to get into the top ten, but again he had the problems we’ve
had all year. Eventually he couldn’t push or be more
aggressive with the bike or he would lose the front. I would
like to thank Shinya for his efforts this year, as he’s
a very professional rider. I would also like to thank our
technical partners and sponsors who have supported us, even
if the results were under our original expectations. Our expectations
were higher, but this is racing and we have to be realistic.
Despite this we have worked well with our partners and our
cooperation with them has been excellent. We created something
special for our partners and irrespective of our results on
the track our partners have been satisfied with our results
off of it – this is our difference. I would like to
thank KONICA MINOLTA, Honda, HRC, Michelin and all of our
sponsors for their support this year and all the team for
their hard-work, professionalism and dedication.”
Shinya Nakano – Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda
(14th)
“Another very difficult race and one which has basically
summed up the whole season. My start was so-so, but I found
that I could overtake some riders going into turn two. At
the beginning my pace wasn’t so bad, but from the middle
of the race I found that I couldn’t improve my lap times.
It was another big battle from 16th to 12th with riders like
Carlos Checa, Colin Edwards and myself. Eventually I finished
in 14th place. This year we’ve struggled with front-end
feeling from the RC212V, which has been a big problem, as
my style needs this. I’ve crashed a few times this season
because of this, but I’m pleased to be ending the year
without any injuries. I would like to thank Luca and Giulio
for always supporting me and keeping me motivated during this
difficult year and also the rest of the team. This is an excellent
team but unfortunately the results haven’t been there
for us this year.”
Giulio Bernardelle – Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA
Honda
“Today’s race was indicative of our whole season,
really. Our technical package wasn’t so bad today, but
all year we’ve seen that our potential just isn’t
high enough to compete with the leading group of riders. This
has been our major problem – we’ve always been
racing at the very limit of our technical package and it’s
been very difficult to move forwards. Today was no different.
It’s a shame as racing is about having problems, testing
to solve the problems and then moving forward. It has been
very difficult to do that this year. I want to thank Shinya,
as for a rider like him it’s not so easy to manage such
a difficult season. Despite our frustrations and difficulties,
we have had a good personal relationship. I would also like
to thank the few persons who worked hard through a very long
season.”
GP de la Comunitat Valenciana - Race results
1) Dani Pedrosa Honda 46’ 43.533”
2) Casey Stoner Ducati 46’ 48.980”
3) John Hopkins Suzuki 47’ 03.937”
4) Marco Melandri Honda 47’ 08.360”
5) Loris Capirossi Ducati 47’ 09.337”
14) Shinya Nakano Honda 47’ 33.753”
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