[FONT="]Followingtheir dramatic last-lap battle at Indianapolis last week, which featured thetwo bikes making contact, this time it was the Italian who finished ahead ofthe American [/FONT] [FONT="]Andrea Dovizioso[/FONT] [FONT="]“For what we could expect today, I’m prettypleased because I was able to have a consistent pace and I managed to get under1’58 at the end of the race. I did the whole race in front of Nicky; I pushedmy hardest and I didn’t make many mistakes. I’m happy with my performance, butof course the gap is too much; 35 seconds is really a lot.”[/FONT] [FONT="]Dovizioso would finish seventh, with Hayden in eighth positionand pleased with the fact that he was the only prototype runner to select thesofter option front tyre.[/FONT] [FONT="]NickyHayden[/FONT] [FONT="]“Once again, the guys in front were quite abit quicker than us. Dovi got away from me in the beginning, but I was able tobring him back and race with him a bit. He was right in front of me at the end,but there was really nowhere to put in a clean pass without making it touchy;he rode a great race and covered all the lines the last couple laps.[/FONT] [FONT="]“The bike was definitelybetter in the Warm-Up; and then in the race I felt the best over the bumps thatI have all weekend. I did the sighting lap on the hard front tyre, but Iswitched to the soft on the grid. It was a bit of a gamble, but it turned outto be the right choice.”[/FONT] [FONT="]At the conclusion to round eleven, Dovizioso and Hayden remainseventh and ninth in the championship, although the former now has Gresini’sAlvaro Bautista only four points behind him.[/FONT]
