The podium🌞 press conferences from today's season-🔜opening 125, 250 and MotoGP Africa's Grands Prix, from Welkom.

MotoGP class.

Valentino Rossi - 1st: "It's difficult to explain what I'm feeling at this moment. This race, this weekend, has been one o🐽f the best of my career. I rode very well over the three days and the race was very, very good - a great show - a great battle with Max. It was perfect; a great start, a good rhythm and then some good overtaking. It's good for everybody and thanks to my mechanics who came with me (from Honda), also to Yamaha who have done a fantastic job. Thanks to everybody."

Max Biaggi - 2nd: "I started from third and got close to Rossi after passing Sete. The pace was very fast and I was riding well but in the last section of the track I always had a problem. We tried to fix it before the race but we couldn't so I had to ride over the problem, but it's very easy for me to be passed by other riders there. I tried my best, but it wasn't enough because Rossi was very, very fast in this place (where I had a problem) - faster than me, but It was very close. Honda has made a good effort, giving us the new chassis, so I'm sure we'll be🎀 back (on top) very, very soon."

Sete Gibernau - 3rd: "Congratulations to both Valentino and Max, they rode a very good race. Yesterday I knew that we were not on the best pace, but today I tried at the beginning but the chatter came with me. I think the team did the best we could. For this year I think I have to be happy because when things are not good or perfect then we still fight for a podium and I hope when things go ok we can fight for a win. Anyway I don't want to make any excuses, Max and Valentino did better than me today and hopefully at Jerez ꦫI will be able to do better than them. Thank-you to all my team."

250cc class.

Dani Pedrosa - 1st: "For me it is unbelievable. Yesterday we also did a very good job and it was a surprise - but today it's a very big surpri🌺se for us, I still can't believe it. Thank-you to my team, to Honda and to all the people who worked with me this winter to help heal my ankles."

Randy De Puniet - 2nd: "I'm a little bit disappointed, but this time last year I had zero points and today I have twenty - not so bad. I had big problems wi𝄹th my rear tyre and it was impossible to do better. In the last corner I made a mistake and Pedrosa♏ overtook me and won, but it's not so bad."

Sebastian Porto - 3rd: 🐷"It was very difficult race: My start was good but then my front tyre was sliding to much and I ran off. I tried to make good laps after that and to make a podiu꧅m is excellent."

125cc class.

Andrea Dovizioso - 1st: "Locatelli was fast all race, and🐓 on the final lap I really didn't know where to pass him. I thought I could make it on the straight, but it wasn't possible, then I saw a gap two corners from the end and went for the inside. I'm𒈔 very happy and want to thank my team and the clinica mobile who helped me after my crash in practice."

Roberto Locatelli - 2nd: "I don't look where Dovizioso was - I kไnew he could pass me on the last lap but I didn't expect him to pass me in the last corner. But for me it's no problem to finish second today."

Casey Stoner - 3rd: "I felt that I could stick with front group, after I'd caught them, but then all of a sudden I couldn't turn the bike. I thought I'd try and go to the front and slow them up because I knew I couldn't ru꧋n their pace for much longer. Then once they'd passed me back I thought that was it - Locat🥂elli and Dovizioso took off - and then Nieto passed me so I thought the podium was over. But there was only two laps to go so I pushed as hard as I could and overtook him with three corners to go, so I think I was pretty lucky."