I probably made the best race start of my whole life, Valentino got away well too and we went together into the first bend. Elias came up on the inside and I actually saw everything happen but to be honest I thought Vale would be able to stay on the bike so I kept my corner speed and tried to just run it around the outside.

I can win a race before the end of the season

I don't want to start any rumours but I've had a word with Yamaha about Casey myself. I've put in a good word for him. I think anybody at this time would be crazy not to consider Casey for a MotoGP ride.

[The tropically hot conditions that prevail at Sepang make life tough
for tyres, but Michelin has always
been up to the track's demands.] Sepang is one of
those special places where you get a lot more
wheelspin than normal, ... The
hotter it is, the more wheelspin you get, so you just try to
keep the bike in line, you have to think about conserving your tyres
more. The place is very heavy on
the right side of the tyres, that's the side that gets all the
abuse, so Michelin takes all that into account
and builds something focusing 90 per cent on of the right side of
the tyre. The places that really
generate heat are turns three, six and coming onto the back straight
(turn 14) where the thing just
wants to light up.

That was probably the best start we made all season but then we became disjointed with our scrum being put under a bit of pressure.

[The tropically hot conditions that prevail at Sepang make life tough for tyres, but Michelin has always been up to the track's demands.] Sepang is one of those special places where you get a lot more wheelspin than normal, ... The hotter it is, the more wheelspin you get, so you just try to keep the bike in line, you have to think about conserving your tyres more. The place is very heavy on the right side of the tyres, that's the side that gets all the abuse, so Michelin takes all that into account and builds something focusing 90 per cent on of the right side of the tyre. The places that really generate heat are turns three, six and coming onto the back straight (turn 14) where the thing just wants to light up.