Daytona: Victory lane interviews

Daytona 200 by Arai
March 10, 2002

Victory Lane Interviews

Nicky Hayden, winner, No. 69 Honda
"It feels so good. That race was so long I never thought it was going to end. This is amazing. Growing up as a kid this is what I dreamed about. I went to bed thiking about the Daytona 200. To win it is just an incredible feeling and I just want to thank my team. The Hondas were so fast today. We had a big advantage. The team got the bike working so good. I'm just so happy to win and be leading the points.

"Obviously with Kurtis (Roberts) going out and Miguel (Duhamel) and Mat (Mladin) not riding, I wish I could have beat those guys straight up, but still it feels so good.

"I didn't think it was going to end. That race seemed so long. One lap after another and with seven laps to go I had a contact lens come out. I was just waiting for it to be over."

Jamie Hacking, second place finisher, No. 92 Suzuki
"Don't count me out. If you count me out you've done messed up. That Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki had some hot sauce in it today, because that thing was flying. That thing ran so good. The front end on the first tire in the first stint wasn't that good. Then the second stint the rear tire wasn't that good. But then the last one, everything was just perfect. I just put my head down and ran some consistent lows. Low 52s or 54s.

"I saw him (Gobert) coming back towards me. Early on he'd been getting lappers on me. I seemed to catch him coming into the chicane a good bit. Then the last lap a lapper come down on me and almost took me out. I just gathered it back up and I just spun that thing all along the banking. He knew I was coming and I just ducked down on the inside. I was going to give it a shot.

Anthony Gobert, third place finisher, No. 16 Yamaha
"We struggled a little bit at first with a tire. The tire was coming apart. I stayed out for two laps and we lost a lot of time, about 10 seconds. At the end of the race you wish you had those 10 seconds. As it turned out we only just sort of made the finish of the race with this one (tire). If I hadn't of come in a lap earlier, I wouldn't of finished the race.

"I said to myself for my brother who got hurt pretty badly the other day that I wanted to finish on the podium and sort of make it right. The main thing I wasn't really worried about losing second, I thought if maybe there was a train they'd stream to the finish and then I'd finish fourth. I thought I'd be heartbroken then. But there was only one of them. This is the first time I've finished on the podium in Superbike, so I'm happy."

-dis-