Sete Gibernau was unable to make it to the podium in Malaysia as he had done one year ago and was forced to conform with seventh place in a tough race conditioned by high temperatures and chattering problems with his Honda. Sete did not manage to find the perfect set-up for his bike this weekend and the result was a direct consequence of these problems - the chattering present during qualifying but aggravated during the race. Colin Edwards, who started from way down the grid, suffered from the same problem and found it practically impossible to make up positions.
SETE GIBERNAU
(7th, + 21”881): “I don’t want to start looking for excuses – we’ve had a bad weekend in general, both myself and the team. Things haven’t gone well for us this weekend – we were unable to solve the problems we had in qualifying and the situation got worse in the race. Despite everything we have to keep working and never lose hope”.
COLIN EDWARDS
(11th + 33”958): “I am disappointed with this result because the chattering problem has prevented me from setting a fast pace all weekend. Hopefully I’ll have a better feeling in Australia at a circuit which I love and I’ll be able to be fighting for a top result again”.
FAUSTO GRESINI
(Team manager): “This result has been a real shame because it was the most difficult race for Sete in a decisive weekend for the championship. Now the gap is bigger and everything becomes very complicated. Now we have bigger. Now we have to study what went wrong and try and do better in Australia”.
MALAYSIAN GP
- Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) 43’9”146
- Max Biaggi (Ita/Honda) + 3”666
- Alex Barros (Bra/Honda) + 19”069
....
7. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) + 21”881
...
11. Colin Edwards (USA/Honda) + 33”958
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
- Valentino Rossi 254 p.
- Sete Gibernau 224 p.
- Max Biaggi 188 p.
- Alex Barros 136 p.
- Colin Edwards 136 p.