Casey Stoner: "That was a fantastic race and I really enjoyed it - it was like being back in 125s! The first few laps were really hectic, there were guys bashing fairings and I just tried to stay out of the way. When I got my chance to get through I took it and from there I just focused on setting my pace. Jorge rode brilliantly - it wasn't an easy race by any means, especially at the start. Over the first few laps I was struggling a bit for grip but then the tyres got up to temperature and improved. We knew we had a pretty good package for the race but obviously we couldn't be sure that things would go as well as that."
Jorge Lorenzo: "For sure I couldn’t have expected a better debut than this and I am very, very excited to be on the podium. Second place is an amazing result for me and I had great fun. The start and first few laps were a bit crazy and really a bit of a scary time for me, but anyway I managed to make it through and get past some riders to get to second. I started to go with Stoner but after a while I became very tired and I started to have a lot of pressure and pain in my arms, so I really couldn’t push any more! Anyway he was faster than us and I want to say congratulations to him because he deserved to win tonight. I think if I could have got a better start, maybe I wouldn’t have got so tired later on and I would have been able to keep a better rhythm, but anyway I don’t think I can ask for more than this tonight. I want to thank Yamaha and Michelin for all the hard work they have put in over the winter to get me to this point, and of course my team for all of their work. I don’t want to start talking about the championship yet because this is only my first race, and now we will go to Jerez and do our very best again there and see what happens!”
Andrea Dovizioso: “I’m very emotional for this first race. I never thought I would be so quick to finish so near the front and also become the first Italian rider home, which is great! I never really thought of the podium, as I seemed to start off not so good on the grid. Immediately after the start I pushed hard and tried to concentrate on the job in front, I was aiming at the train of riders just in front of me. Perhaps I asked a little too much of my Michelin tyre combination which behaved very well in the race. I want to thank the team for the fantastic job that they did over the weekend. We struggled a little in qualifying, but came out in a very good way when it was time for the race. We have shown that we are ready to do well in MotoGP with Honda and I look forward to the next race.”
Valentino Rossi: “We expected a difficult race here, but actually not as difficult as this! We haven’t been fast here in Qatar since last week’s night test but, despite this, I thought we might be able to fight for the podium. Tonight however it was really difficult and now we have to understand the reason for this result. After five or six laps I started doing 56.4 and 56.5 and from then on I couldn’t improve on that pace until the end. I was very fast in braking, but not so fast in the corners. Finally I want to say congratulations to Lorenzo for a great debut tonight; honestly I’m not surprised because I knew he was fast and talented, but he did very well tonight in a hard race so well done to him.”
Dani Pedrosa: “Tonight’s result is unbelievable, we didn’t expect this, so I’m very happy. Seven days ago I was almost last in the tests here but my team have worked really hard, bringing both 2007 and 2008 bikes here and making many changes – they’ve been fantastic. For the first time I understand the meaning and the legend of HRC and I’m so proud to be part of this. They gave me a competitive bike and the Michelin tyres worked really well and I did my best on track but without them I couldn’t have been able to make it. I couldn’t stay with Lorenzo and Stoner, so we still have to improve but since last week’s tests we’ve made an incredible step forward. Now we have a few weeks to recover full strength in the hand before Jerez.”

Nicky Hayden: “It wasn’t pretty for sure. We wanted more than just top ten but we struggled here from the time we rolled out at the tests. We haven’t really made much progress and it hasn’t been for a lack of effort, these guys have worked really hard. We got beat bad today so we’ve obviously got a lot of work to do. I got a decent start but I couldn’t push the way I wanted to, couldn’t be aggressive and couldn’t make anything happen, so I kinda went backwards then I went forward again. I was spinning a lot, which definitely didn’t do the rear tyre any favours, I really think we just missed the set-up and worked the tyre way too hard so I was spinning way too much.”
Colin Edwards: “I didn’t leave anything out there tonight. If you paid me a million dollars I couldn’t have gone any faster. I was riding my hardest but at the end of the day it just wasn’t fast enough and to be honest I’m not sure why. We’ll have to check the computer but I just didn’t have the same feeling as I did yesterday.

"We had a great day yesterday and going into the race I was confident about getting on the podium. But from the second lap it became a race of adapting to cope with the different feeling I had from the tyres. I was at the back of the group and while they weren’t really pulling away, I couldn’t get any closer. I just didn’t have the confidence to push and then I ran wide at the last corner while trying to keep close to the back of James. I lost a bit of time and I couldn’t catch back up. Thanks to my guys for they’re hard work and we’ll try and move closer to the front in Jerez.”
Randy De Puniet: “At the first corner of the race I had a big front-end slide and again at the second corner so I was not so confident and I took it a little easy for the first couple of laps and a lot of riders passed me. When I got into my rhythm I could run mid 1m 56 second laps. Towards the end of the race my rear tyre was sliding quite a lot. But the biggest problem for me was the first two laps, if I had not had the front end slides a top six finish was possible. Now we go to Jerez and I hope to get into the top six.”

John Hopkins: "The first half of the race felt good, and I was pretty comfortable running inside the top ten. But then, at about half race distance, the performance of the front tyre went off, and it started sliding in the turns. I had no option but to hold the bike up on my knee, but that put a lot of pressure on my injury. The pain built up very quickly, and by two-thirds distance it was excruciating. If it had just been pain then I could have ridden through it, but in the end I simply ran out of strength in the injured muscle, and I just couldn't maintain my lap times. It was hard to make it all the way to the end of the race, but although I'm disappointed not to have finished higher, at least I know that the injury wouldn't have been a limiting factor if it hadn't been for the tyre problem. This gives me some confidence going into the next race at Jerez."

Anthony West: "What can I say? Obviously I'm bitterly disappointed with my result today, because I'm not here to finish at the back of the field. I was suffering with the same problems I had in practice and qualifying and I still didn't feel totally comfortable on the bike. At around half race distance I started to feel more confident, and in some sections of the circuit I was much faster than Guintoli and Elias, who were in front of me. Through the final section I could get right alongside them, but I just didn't have enough speed to pass. And then, as soon as we hit the straight, they cleared off. This has been a weekend to forget, but I need to put it behind me now and focus on the next race at Jerez."

Marco Melandri: "I got a great start but a couple of riders got in my way and I lost some positions. That's normal when you're starting from so far back. Over the first few laps the feeling with the front wasn't too good and when I passed Elias I ran pretty wide. The situation improved as the laps went by and I felt more stable and comfortable. The race was definitely the highlight of the weekend and that is really encouraging."

Loris Capirossi: “For sure I am not happy because our target is to fight for the podium or victories, and at the moment we are a bit off that. We tried to do our best in the race and compared to the test and the practices here this week we certainly went a little bit better in the race. We still have to continue to improve our entire package so we can be running at the front. I really want to thank my team because they gave me a good opportunity to try my best this weekend with the bike they prepared for me. We now have another 17 races left and we can certainly improve a lot in them!”

Chris Vermeulen: “Not a great start to the season! I made a good start and got off the line well. I was in a good position, but I had an issue with the front tyre right from the first lap. It just didn’t work and after five laps it was completely destroyed, so I had to come in and get a new one fitted. We will have to look at it with Bridgestone and find out why it happened. After we replaced the tyre – with the same spec one – I went back out and just tried to stay out of everyone’s way. I ended up following Loris in his battle with de Puniet and I was comfortable doing those lap-times at the end when I had a decent front tyre in. It’s a shame really, and although I don’t think we had the pace to run with the front group I felt like I could have scored a lot more points than we have now.”
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