`It has been a bit of a tough weekend, but I am quite happy today because I tried 100% all race and when you see a podium place that close it makes you try even harder. I struggled a bit to get past Colin Edwards as our bike still needs more speed to be able to overtake other riders – so that is still something we need to work on. Once I got past Colin I immediately caught up with Casey Stoner because he was quite a bit slower over the whole lap than me. I tried to overtake on turn two and then ran wide and he came back past, then on the next lap I went into a corner much faster to get past, but I touched the back of his bike and ran off the track! If I had got by Casey earlier I really believe I could have challenged for the podium, but it was not to be. I really want to say thanks to all my crew because again they have worked really hard this weekend in difficult conditions. We still have to keep pushing really hard for the extra performance we need – I believe in our potential and we really need to start next season with a good bike because I feel strong and still have a good opportunity to fight with the top guys, and I will try everything I can to make that happen.´

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Achieving the result in his penultimate race with JiR Team Scot, Dovizioso said, `I am really pleased because I wanted to get at least one podium before the end of the season to say thank you to my team, because we have raced together for seven years. We have come into MotoGP together and I´m really happy about that.´

Commenting on his great battle during the Sepang contest with the man he will replace at Repsol Honda next season, Nicky Hayden, the Italian youngster added, `The battle with Nicky was important because I am going into his place, but my opinion of Nicky is really good so I am just happy about the third position.´

Having finished in the top ten for the last thirteen races and been fourth on three occasions so far this year, Dovizioso is deserving of the rostrum appearance, and stated, `We have been close to the podium in several races but the level of the riders and the bikes is so high, so it is always difficult. Especially in MotoGP where the power is so high and the conditions on track change a lot so it is difficult to get a podium. It is amazing to get this one.´

Dovizioso´s Team Manager Cirano Mularoni gave his view on the result, stating, `Today was a beautiful day for us. It is the first podium for us in MotoGP so we are all happy. This was our dream at the start of the season and finally it arrived today. There was a great job from the team and it was an unbelievable race by `Dovi´ so we are very, very pleased. I hope we can repeat this result in Valencia.´

The San Marino-born rider is one of a batch of rookies plying their trade in the premier class this season, having moved up from the 250cc class. In spite of some crashes over the course of his maiden season, some impressive race results –such as a career best fourth place at Mugello and Sachsenring- and an impressive attitude to the adaptation process have convinced Gresini to retain his services.

De Angelis´ Team Manager believes that the alleviation of pressure on the newcomer will be able to keep him calm for the final races of the year, in which he is targeting further improvement.

`Our objective is to finish off the season in the best way possible and I’m sure Alex will now be able to approach this target in a more relaxed and stress-free manner after reaching an agreement to stay with our team for 2009,´ says Gresini.

This latest instance of a rider putting pen to paper follows in the footsteps of a series of names confirming their stay with their current teams, with Valentino Rossi, Colin Edwards, James Toseland and the Suzuki duo of Loris Capriossi & Chris Vermeulen having renewed their contracts over the course of the season.

The factory Yamaha pair were joined by their Tech 3 counterparts, Colin Edwards and James Toseland, at the Mirage Hotel in the Nevadan party city, as the Yamaha premium performance road bike was presented, in front of 3000 Yamaha US dealers.

In his typically upbeat fashion Rossi commented, `This is a great bike. It´s very like my M1 and it´s exciting to see so many MotoGP qualities now appearing on a bike for the road. I think everyone who loves the R1 and Yamaha will be very excited about this new version. It´s fantastic!´

The Italian rider has every reason to be in a good mood at present as he heads into the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix this weekend with a 75 point World Championship advantage, on the back of his home triumph at Misano.

`The Doctor´ will visit New York on Wednesday for a media event before heading on to the new MotoGP circuit at one of motorsport´s most iconic venues – Indianapolis Motor Speedway – for the first time.

If Rossi outscores his Ducati rival and current championship runner-up Casey Stoner by just a single point at Indianapolis it will give him the opportunity to clinch a sixth premier class title at Motegi in the following round in Japan two weeks later.

Looking ahead to the Indy adventure Rossi commented, `I am still on a high from Misano, which was an amazing day, but now we are facing a different challenge. It´s very exciting to be going to Indianapolis, such a famous and historical place for motorsport, but it´s obvious from reports that it´s going to be quite a difficult race for everyone.´

He added, `Of course we have no data but we´re also expecting the surface to be quite tricky for the tyres. I hope the track is safe, we know the walls are quite close in some places but hopefully it won´t be a problem. We will find out on Friday.´

On the other side of the partitioned Fiat Yamaha pit-box MotoGP Rookie of the Year candidate Lorenzo is also still buzzing, following his own Misano success story. The young Spanish double 250cc World Champion put a difficult period behind him as he bounced back with a superb run to second place in the San Marino contest.

`As far as I´m concerned, I just want to stay on a good run of form and stay at the level we found at San Marino, where everything worked as we´d hoped once again,´ stated Lorenzo. `The whole team and myself have to focus throughout all four sessions because they will be crucial to prepare for the race. There are five rounds left and we have to keep fighting to meet our objectives.´

Marco Melandri had announced some time ago that he would be putting pen to paper on a deal with `Team Green´ for 2009, although one signature remains to be added to the contract, as Kawasaki Competitions Manager, Michael Bartholemy, explained on Thursday in Indianapolis.

`We are very close to confirming Marco for the future. Tomorrow morning I hope that we will have the signature of our president, so that we can announce the deal as soon as possible.

`He´s a rider that I was looking for since last year, and I hope that this deal can happen. He will be very welcome here.´

The addition of proven racewinner Melandri to the Kawasaki fold, alongside the retention of John Hopkins for a second season, would complete the factory team lineup for next year. Also on the agenda is a third bike, with Jorge Martinez Aspar linked with the project as Team Manager.

`For the third bike, the idea of all the parties involved is very clear,´ continued Bartholemy. `The money is there, the president has given the green light; many things are moving along positively. We don´t yet have the financial signature from Kawasaki, because people from other sections are also involved and they had small concerns about whether we could supply on a high level.

`There will be some internal meetings, and we will have a final answer from the middle to the end of next week.´

As part of MotoGP´s celebrations marking the 60th season of Grand Prix racing this year, 1987 title-winner Wayne Gardner and Barry Sheene´s son Freddie – on behalf of his father – also collected trophies, and speaking at the event Stoner was quick to pay tribute to Australian hero Doohan, who was a five-time 500cc World Champion during an uninterrupted period of dominance in the late 1990s.

Doohan won his quintet of consecutive World titles from 1994-98 having incredibly fought back from injury when at one stage he was close to losing his right leg due to medical complications, following a horror crash in practice at Assen when leading the 1992 championship by 65 points.

Currently struggling with a wrist injury which causes him fatigue and pain during practice and races, Stoner will need surgery at the end of this season having admitted that otherwise his career could be in danger – though he does not compare his own situation to the suffering Doohan endured.

The Ducati Marlboro rider stated, `It was a big privilege to receive the trophy at the same time as these guys as I grew up watching them and they have shaped my career. You don´t need to hear from the people directly when you can see what they have done (…referring to Doohan´s injury and comeback). With my wrist we can only do the best job possible to recover from it and once we have had the operation I am sure everything is going to be fine. It is not like the kind of injury Mick had.´

On-track on Friday, Stoner ended day one of the 2008 visit to his home track as the fastest rider courtesy of a 1’30.094 effort in the dry morning session, keeping him more than half a second ahead of second quickest participant Valentino Rossi.

Although Stoner said he found he going easier physically in the wet afternoon free practice he was 1.765s off Nicky Hayden´s pace-setting best, in fourth place on the timesheet.

`This morning in the dry session it was a lot harder, wet conditions are not really an issue at the moment,´ Stoner revealed. `In the dry the changing of direction seems to be a little bit difficult. That is why I would like to try and get the bike set-up a little easier to ride and then we might be ok.´

Hayden was of course disappointed to miss out on another rostrum finish himself, but the graceful American nonetheless had some kind words to say about the rider who will take his place in the Repsol Honda team as of next week´s post-season tests at Valencia.

Indeed, Dovizioso also spoke highly of Hayden after the race and the Kentucky Kid returned the compliment saying. `Congratulations to `Dovi´ on his first podium. The dude held tough. We went back and forth a few times and I enjoyed the battle, you know it was fun to be fighting for the podium but I came up short.´

Asked if he thought Dovizioso would make progress in 2009 taking up the factory RC212V that Hayden will leave behind as he moves to Ducati, the former MotoGP title-holder responded, `I really do think he will. Certainly he gets just about everything out of the package he´s got right now and he is solid. Week in and week out he doesn´t make a lot of mistakes and he is fast in all conditions. He is going to be a big threat next year and he is the real deal.´

With another opportunity to overcome Dovizioso this Sunday in the final round at Valencia, in their last race as fellow Honda riders, and with 17 points separating the pair Hayden still has the chance of beating the Italian into fifth spot in the final MotoGP standings.

If Valentino Rossi´s head wasn´t already hurting from last weekend´s title celebrations, then it certainly was one week on from his clinching the 2008 World Championship. The Fiat Yamaha rider was smarting from a qualifying crash at the Australian Grand Prix, but with the help of doctors and determination was able to finish runner-up at Phillip Island on Sunday.

The Italian had worked his way up from twelfth on the grid, but would have felt some throbbing in his cranium as he devised a way of passing Tech 3 Yamaha star James Toseland during the Sunday race. In the end Rossi even managed to hunt down Nicky Hayden for second place, in a performance every bit as astounding as his 2003 fight to overcome a ten-second penalty Down Under.

`The problem for me this morning was my head. I woke up this morning with a very strong headache. My head felt like it was exploding when I walked. With James I also had a great battle, as he is always very strong to overtake,´ said Rossi after the race, for which he received painkillers and a series of massages to get him prepared and at somewhere near peak fitness.

Another rostrum for Rossi allows him to keep up his podium streak at Phillip Island, which runs to a decade when taking into account his results from all classes. Off the front row for the first time in Australia since 2002, the chances of his keeping the form alive had looked doubtful.

`Ten years on the podium here, since 1998, something that I am always proud to have achieved. Starting from the fourth row I think that second was the best result that we could have hoped for today, and I am happy to have continued the good run that I have been on since Sachsenring,´ concluded the 2008 titlist, who has only been off the rostrum twice this season.

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