Quotes from the Gold Trophy competitors.

Mick Headland – 1st
“I’m absolutely stoked – absolutely over the moon.  It’s all come together, this is what we’ve dreamed of and put a lot of effort into, and it’s great that the plans have come together. 

 On the tapes:
“We didn’t let it bother us – we just got on with the job because everyone had to race under the same conditions, so that was fine.”

 Gary Moon – 2nd
“Second is alright – we stayed out of trouble but still dropped a few points early in the night which was a bit hard on us, but it was alright.  We didn’t quite get the setup for the bike in the end which cost us pretty dearly, but second is pretty good.”

On the tapes:
“What can you do you know, it is something that you just have to put up with and get on with it you know.”

Mark Plaisted – 3rd
“You are never happy unless you win, and there were obviously no tapes, but that’s the way it is.  We are okay though because we dropped a heat and still managed to finish up third so it was a pretty good effort I guess.

On the tapes:
“You can’t do much more than go along with what the referee says.”

Ronny Parker – 4th
“I believe we’ve got fourth, so I am very very happy with that.  We had a mixed night but so did a lot of other people.  Fourth in Australia and now fourth in the world so we have got to be happy with that. 

On the tapes:
“We’re used to starting with the tapes, we’re just so used to it.  It made it a whole new ballgame, and some adapted really quick but some didn’t.  But how else were you going to do it?”

Scott Christopher – 7th
“It was one of those meetings where I guess a lot of the top guys had a bit of bad luck.  You can’t help these sort of things and things were changing all of the time.  It’s the way that racing goes sometimes and you’ve just got to roll with it.  The winners rode well all night, and a few of us had a bit of bad luck with blown tyres and exclusions, but that’s racing and it’s great to see someone different at the top.”

On the tapes:
“It’s probably only the second time in my career that I’ve ever done something like that, and especially not at a meeting of this calibre.  Some of these races – 50% of the races are on the sport and it is pretty important, but what can you do?”

Gary Jackson – 12th
“I’m a little bit deflated – we had problems the whole night.  We had a misfire and just couldn’t cure it and tried everything in the time, but still don’t know what it is now.”

On the tapes:
It was not a good situation really, but if that’s the only option that’s left, then that’s the only option we’ll take.  It’s not good, but if you want the meeting to run then it has to be lights.”

Roel Liemburg – 18th
“To be honest with you I enjoyed it as a big event to be there, but I had some problems with the bike.  We changed carbs and everything – I still can’t find the problem that is there.  But of course, it’s a big event and I am there and I enjoyed it.”

On the tapes:
“The start gate was a disappointment and made a big delay.  It had an effect on the riders and affected the track preparation as well.”