Spanish GP: Pramac d'Antin race notes

FIRST POINT FOR THE TEAM PRAMAC D'ANTIN MOTOGP

A sunny day at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, for the first race of the season in the MotoGP World Championship, that also meant the Home Grand Prix for the Team Pramac D'Antin MotoGP. Alex Hofmann has finished the race in 15th position, getting his first point of the season after a difficult race. The Spanish Jose Luis Cardoso has concluded his first appearance in the premier-class with a retirement caused by the improvised deterioration of the rear Dunlop cover of his Ducati Desmosedici GP06 "Sat.".

Next appointment on Saturday 8th April on the Circuit of Losail, for the second of the seventeenth races of the 2006 MotoGP season.

ALEX HOFMANN #66: "I obtained my first point of the season for the World Championship classification in the MotoGP class and this makes me optimistic even if I wanted to make a better result. I had a good start, recuperating three or four positions, but then I was slowed by one rider's crash. From the warm-up of this morning the temperatures were a lot higher and the race was slower than what I expected. Unfortunately I didn't manage to keep the contact with the riders I had in front. I did my own race, concentrating myself at the maximum to collect the most information as possible; and we surely can't be satisfied, we need to work a lot more for the next races. It also has been a physically very hard race, It never had been so difficult before; a very good physical training especially at the end of the race. In two weeks we will be in Qatar, I like this track and I classified myself 9th in 2004. I hope to have fun on our DUCATI very soon as well!"

JOSE LUIS CARDOSO #30: "I'm really disappointed. The race started in a good way but after three laps I began to have some difficulties with the rear. Lap after lap, the situation was getting worse and the bike became too difficult to control; I preferred to stop and avoid some eventual crash. I'm really sorry for the Team that had worked so hard during the whole weekend; I really wanted to get a good result in front of my public, so warm and affectionate to me. I thank all the people. The next race will be in Qatar, a track that I really like: last year, with the Superbike, I did second in the qualifying practice and sixth in the Superpole!".

LUIS D'ANTIN - TEAM MANAGER: "Our biggest handicap is, without any doubt, the least quantity of tyres we had at our disposal for this race, something that really limited our performance. This is a quite hard situation for the riders that take part to MotoGP races. I hope that Dunlop, our Official Tyres' Supplier, will be able to offer us a bigger quantity of tyres for the race in Qatar, as this track suits these covers in a better way; it could be an optimal opportunity to give more visibility to the two DUNLOP Teams of the World Championship. On the other side, both our riders really want to fight; if we will give them the minimum necessities, they surely will be able to make a good result. For us, the World Championship is starting right now, we need to work a lot more, and in a better way!".

-pd'a-