MotoReview

GP-class rookie Randy de Puniet had a difficult debut race as he injured his hand during free practice on Sunday morning and found that he was unable to brake as hard as he needed to once the race was underway. After running off the track at high speed the Frenchman decided it was safest to retire to the pits as the injury was causing him too many problems.

Shinya Nakano

"After such a good qualifying session I'm disappointed that I didn't finish higher today. I got a reasonable start, but then Toni Elias collided with Valentino Rossi right in front of me, forcing me to back off. I tried to come back straight away, but conditions on track were very different compared to yesterday. There seemed to be less grip available and that caused me a few problems, as did the strong wind through some of the turns. I didn't feel so comfortable when hard on the brakes today either, which meant I had to brake earlier than normal for some of the faster corners. So, while I could quite easily follow Marco Melandri and Casey Stoner, it wasn't possible to pass them on the brakes. Passing on the straights wasn't an option either, as we are still a little bit down on outright top speed compared to some of the others. As I said, I'm disappointed with the result, but glad to have at least scored world championship points in the first race of the season."

Randy de Puniet

"I was struggling out there with my injured hand; I just didn't have the power to brake as hard as I needed to. And then, eight laps in, I lost the front at the fast right-hander at the end of the lap and ran straight off at 240 km/h. I knew then that it wasn't safe to continue and so I pulled into the pits. I'm bitterly disappointed not to finish in my first MotoGP race through injury, but I hope to be fully fit again by the time we get to Qatar for round two."

Harald Eckl - Team Manager

"Shinya did a good job, in what was a tough race for him. Conditions have definitely changed from yesterday, which meant he started the race with a less than perfect set-up, but he overcame the problems to score a solid finish in the first race of the season. You could see he was unable to overtake on the brakes, but it was also obvious that we need to find some more power from the engine, so that he at least has the option to overtake out of the slipstream on the straights. I'm sure Randy was hoping for a better MotoGP debut, but the two crashes he had in qualifying yesterday put him on the back foot, and then he crashed and injured himself again this morning. I have every confidence in Randy as a rider; he has shown he has the speed, but now he needs to match this with consistency. He's a strong character, so I'm sure he'll bounce back ready for the next race in Qatar."