More from today’s Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya race. Read what all the riders had to say and if you didn’t see the amazing last lap of this race, after the jump you can also see the video. The commentary is in Italian, but you’ll enjoy seeing Rossi and Lorenzo do battle for first place.

Valentino Rossi - 1st

“As we say in Italy, “Mamma Mia!” I think I can honestly say that this was one of the best and hardest wins of my career. Maybe Laguna last year was more important but this was a great, great victory because it went to the very last corner and it’s a long time since that has happened. I have dreamed about that move for the last two weeks and today it worked and I am so happy to have this 99th win. We did a perfect job all weekend and my M1 and Bridgestone tyres were brilliant, but we knew that Lorenzo was in the same situation and for sure he was very strong today. I had to be very brave and take it right to the limit in order to beat him. This victory today is more important than the 25 points and anyway now we all have the same, what a championship this is! As well as thanking my team, I especially want to dedicate this win to my Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess because his mother sadly died yesterday. I have to say thank you to her and to him because without him, for sure, I would never have arrived at 99 wins. Now I am going to go to sleep for quite a long time because I need to recover from this excitement!”

Jorge Lorenzo – 2nd

“This was an incredible battle today and a brilliant show for everyone, I am happy to have been a part of it. Of course I am sad to have lost because I put my heart on my bike and in my career I am more used to winning these last-lap fights, but today Valentino was maybe a little bit cleverer or a little bit braver than me at the very end and he was able to beat me. In fact during that last lap, after I passed him, I expected him to pass me back on the brakes much earlier but he didn’t come, and then I just didn’t close the line enough on the final corner and that was it. I am proud however because I am young and I still have a lot to learn in this class. My team have worked so well all weekend so thanks to them, if we can continue as strongly as this all season then who knows what can happen?”

Casey Stoner - 3rd

“I haven’t felt in great shape all weekend – I wasn’t ill but I wasn’t quite myself. Then last night I couldn’t sleep, I probably got a couple of hours at the most, and after just a couple of laps this morning I was destroyed. I decided to race myself, basically, and bring home as many points as I could manage but my bike was fantastic and that is why I was able to ride it to a really valuable podium. The team did a perfect job after the warm-up and if I wasn’t so ill, I think I could have stayed with Valentino and Jorge until the end, although I’m not saying I could have beaten them. I started to suffer from really strong cramps and I could barely ride – I was falling over the front of the bike in the hard-braking areas and I was struggling to keep my concentration. I thought about stopping but decided to just back off for a while and try to hang on for a top ten. The bike was so good that I was able to keep up a decent pace and hold off Dovizioso. Tonight I’ll try to get plenty of rest and recover my strength for the test tomorrow because this is an important period in the championship and we need to test. After that it’s Assen and I’m already looking forward to it.”

Continue reading: Catalunya 2009 - Post Race Quotes

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Luckily for Chris that he was able to finish the race. An engine blowing while you’re racing or dicing it out with someone can get pretty hairy and down right dangerous.

Vermeulen finished 11th in today’s race. 36.683 seconds from race winner Valentino Rossi and is 10th in the overall standings with 42 points, the same as LCR Honda rider Randy DePuniet.

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You don’t take your 99th career victory if your name isn’t Valentino Rossi, and you almost never see what happened in the final lap in today’s Catalunya race on the Montmelò circuit, if the one of the rider’s involved last name isn’t Rossi.

Valentino Rossi took one of his greatest wins ever. Battling with his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo in the 25 lap race and on the final lap dived up on the inside of Lorenzo on the last corner, where no one ever passes, and won the race by a mere 0,095s and it was also the first race to be decided on the the last lap since Estoril, 2006.

Casey Stoner, who was suffering from severe stomach pains, was able to stay with the Yamaha pair matching lap for lap for the first 9 laps, but starting dropping off and was completely drained and exhausted when he got to the parc ferme, after holding off Andrea Dovizioso by 0,052s for third place.

Continue reading: Catalunya 2009 - Rossi wins on stunning last lap

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An always optimistic but very realistic Chris Vermeulen talks about his qualifying session at Catalunya and his chances in tomorrow’s race. Chris also tell’s us about his new Suzuki engine.

Vermeulen was 12th in qualifying, 1.437 seconds off Lorenzo’s pole time. The Rizla Suzuki rider’s top speed was 314.1 km/h while team mate Loris Capirossi’s top speed was 323.5 km/h, almost in line with Dani Pedrosa’s 326.9 km/h.

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