Tanel Leok: “In the one to one battle this morning I wasn’t risking too much, not pushing myself to the limit but anyway I won which was nice, it’s always nice to win but those kind of head to head races are special, I think special only to this race. It helped to set me up for race one but I was unlucky and crashed, I crashed again in race two but came back a few positions and finished 7th but the best result was in the final moto. I gated 4th and pulled back to 2nd I wasn’t losing any ground but the sun was very low and made some of the jumps very scary. Yesterday I crashed because of the sun so I didn’t want to risk making the same mistake. The track was very rough and difficult which was good, I was happy with the set up of the bike, this is the first race of the season, I know I had some bad luck but overall I leave happy and positive knowing that the work we have done in the last few months is carrying on where we left off at the end of last season.”

Manuel Priem: “This is my official debut on the factory Kawasaki bike, I was confident that we had the bike set up well but you always start these races searching for a better and better set up, this is not practice, it’s a racing environment and you always discover many different things about a new bike under these conditions. For the first outing I was happy, 10th in race two followed by 6th in the final moto gave me a positive feeling now I have something to work on as we test before the next pre season at Valance, France in two weeks time. The bike set up was good, the track was very bumpy towards the end which I like, I pulled through the field and improved my position in each race but mid pack and 10th positions off the start is something that maybe need to improve and work on during the coming weeks.”

Kevin Strijbos: “This was a difficult race for me, I have been carrying a shoulder injury for the past two weeks and have been unable to train but I wanted to get out on the Kawasaki and make my debut. I was happy with my riding but I know that I still need to work on my starts maybe make some adjustments to the engine, I think Sebastien also had poor starts, for me my starts improved but still not as good as I would like. Third race I was pretty tired as I have done nothing for ten days, I tried not to think about my shoulder but I could not put my arm straight so it meant I couldn’t give 100% like I wanted too, it’s not easy as I can’t jump or turn in the corners how I want. The season is still many weeks away, almost two months so I still have time to get fit. I will see my doctor on Monday hopefully it is only a small bone broken which can repair in two weeks but if the muscle or ligament has come away from the bone this could require surgery and I might need the next month to recover before the first grand prix. We will have to wait to see what the doctor says. The last thing I want to do is wait and risk crashing in a few weeks’ time and miss a lot of time off the bike later. It’s up in the air until I get the verdict from my doctor.”

Sébastien Pourcel: “My start was not very good in my first moto and I was taken down in a big pile up at turn one, I fought my way back from last place to finish 8th, I was very happy as I didn’t feel tired and I did a lot of work to make up so much ground and pass so many riders. I took top eight in race two from the start and came back to second behind Philippaerts before making a small mistake and eventually finished third. In the third and final race I made a bad start. The sun was very low and dangerous, I couldn’t see the track or where I was going, I knew it was dangerous and later retired. Overall it has been a good weekend, nice to get the first race of the year behind you, I know that we need to do some work on the engine and minor adjustments to the suspension set up, it was rough here today which was good as a testing ground. I feel that my starts need some work as I need to get out of the gate and make less work for myself in the races that could in the months ahead.”

Gautier Paulin: “It was a good weekend for me here in Italy, the first opportunity to test the Molson engine under race conditions rather than on a test track, I started well in race one and was fifth amongst the larger 450cc machines which made me happy. For sure the bike is good and I am very happy with the set up. I finished the day second overall in the MX2 category which is a very good start. I know where I am weak at the moment so I need to train more with the bike as a mainly did physical training rather than riding but for sure in two weeks after more time on the bike I am looking forward to the race at Valance in France”.

Gareth Swanepoel: “I just arrived back from South Africa, it’s a little bit colder here than there but I am looking forward to getting the new season underway. Things didn’t go to plan during Saturday’s practice session, I was a little unlucky and crashed and again I crashed this morning in the first practice and hurt my back pretty badly, I didn’t want to race but then thought I’d better go out and just use it for practice and help to set up the bike so long as my back didn’t start hurting. The moto’s turned out OK but again in the last race luck just wasn’t on my side. I made a very good start but De Reuver made contact with another rider and came back off the berm and slammed into me. I suffered a cut in my arm which was pretty deep so I had to go to the doctor, not a pleasant end to my weekend.”