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Brake problems in both races ruined Troy’s chance’s of a top seven finish at Imola today and left him both disappointed and frustrated. His frustration was shared by the team who,together with the Brembo technicians, were unable to solve the problem in either of the two 21-lappers, but will be investigating the problem thoroughly before next weekend’s race in Magny-Cours.
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Ducati riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio dominated Imola (their home track) today, with Haga taking the win in race one, with Max Biaggi (Aprilia) second and Fabrizio third. Race two was won by Fabrizio, with Haga second and Marco Simoncelli (Aprilia) third.
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Troy - Race 1: 11th, Race 2: DNF I don’t know what to say really, because this weekend should’ve been one where we showed the progress we’ve made with the bike. Instead, brake problems messed up any chance of getting a solid pair of top seven finishes before further improvement at Magny-Cours and Portimao. When you make a mistake, it is one thing, but when you have technical problems like this, it is very frustrating. I could crashed a dozen or so times in either race and I certainly spent quite a bit of time off the track. The first race started OK and I was up to fifth by the end of the third lap, but then began having problems with the brakes. The lever was coming back to the bar and I was having to exert heaps more pressure than normal. I was also heading into the turns and chicanes faster than I wanted to and that got a bit scary. I didn’t want to crash and I didn’t want to cause a crash, so I just had to ride carefully and keep a watch out for the other riders. To get 11th, in those circumstances, was good, to say the least. Between race one and race two, the Brembo technicians completely changed the brake system. Our team let them do that and watched in case they had done anything wrong before, but the work was exactly the same. However, the result in race two was much worse. Right from the start, I knew that things were not going better and the brakes were a problem straightaway. After four laps of running off the track, I decided that it would be safer if I pulled out so, reluctantly, that’s what I did. Today was a great shame because the lap times we did on race rubber would’ve given us top seven or eight. Instead, a solution has to be found to the problem, and quick, as Magny-Cours is only next weekend. Hopefully, a solution will be found and I can give myself and the team the results we all now expect. See ya, Troy
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