Riders reflect on Sepang MotoGP | Quotes from whole field

2018 Malaysian MotoGP Rider Quotes

Marc Marquez – P1

“It was a hard race, first of all because I was starting from seventh place. I didn’t get a perfect start, and then my first lap was good but not one of the best of my career. Step by step, I overtook some riders and got to second place. I saw that Valentino was pushing and I started to chase him, lapping at qualifying pace! But in the process, I overheated the rear tyre; the front was also warming up quickly and the feeling wasn’t good. So for a few laps, I just tried to cool down and in so doing I began to feel better and better. I saw I was getting closer to Valentino and honestly that gave me extra motivation. At that moment, it was just a matter of instinct and pushing, something that you can do when you’ve already got the Championship. Unfortunately, he made a little mistake in turn one, which is a shame as it would have been nice to see how the duel would have ended. Anyway, when I saw him crash, I just cooled down and focused on finishing the race. We won, and that was the best way to seal the Constructors Championship. I would also like to congratulate Jorge Martin and “Pecco” Bagnaia for taking Championships. We’ll celebrate together in Valencia.”

Alex Rins – P2

“I feel very happy because our race pace was strong and I was able to close the gaps to the other riders and pass them during the race. I still had very good pace even in the last few laps because I was able to manage the tyres well, but I lost time earlier in the race so that made it more difficult. We’re working really hard and we have found important things and learned more for next year. I’m very excited to go to Valencia, especially as we are feeling very strong with the bike now, and Suzuki deserve to end the season on a high.”

Johann Zarco – P3

“I’m pretty happy, it was a fantastic race! But also difficult like usually in Malaysia. I was tired at the end, but the energy is coming back already. I think the key for that podium was the beginning of the race. I was thinking about overtaking Valentino (Rossi), but he was fast and it was good to be behind him. I could go away, but did a little mistake, when Marc overtook me. I tried to stay behind Marc, had a little gap, but was able to keep a good pace and then Valentino crashed, so I was second. I thought I can control, but four laps to the end Alex (Rins) was faster than me. Even if I was controlling the race well, when I tried to push a little bit more on the last laps, but I just got three tenths faster, which was not fast enough to keep the gap. He overtook me on the last lap. I tried to fight again, but I didn’t have any rear grip anymore. Anyway, the third place is a good finish.”

Maverick Vinales – P4

“I already said yesterday that we lost the race in qualifying. This morning I went out in the wet again and I finished first. Everything in MotoGP is so close now, so you have to start at the front. The tyre wear also gets worse when you’re fighting your way up from the back, you destroy the tyres. I was close to the podium, but with four laps to go the tyre dropped a lot and I couldn’t do anything about it. The team worked very well this weekend, they provided me with a really good bike. I think that, if I had started from the front, I would have been fighting for the race. I’m actually really happy that at three different tracks I was in contention to win. I think there are still many things that we can improve on, but things are better compared to before, and now I can be more consistent. I think Valencia will be a good track for us, I really like the track, it’s good for my riding style, so let’s see.”

Dani Pedrosa- P5

“Today I focused a lot on the start because I was very far back on the grid. The start itself wasn’t perfect, but then I was able to recover a few places in the first corner. Unfortunately, I lost some ground with Dovi and Marc just a couple of turns later. Anyway, the feeling at the beginning of the race was good enough and I was able to stay there close to the front. On the other hand, toward the end I began struggling with grip again and I was passed by Rins and Viñales. All in all it was a little bit better race than usual. I would like to congratulate Martin for his title. He was able to overcome some difficulties this year, an injury and other issues, and he had a strong race today. He totally deserves this result.” 

Andrea Dovizioso – P6

“I have to admit that today I’m disappointed because I wasn’t able to do the race I expected and suffered a lot with a lack of grip. As I said on Thursday, I had hoped for a dry race because we have always gone well in testing and practice in these conditions, but today I really struggled a lot and now we have to understand exactly what happened. In the end, thanks to Rossi’s error, we succeeded in taking home second place overall both in the Riders’ and Constructors’ standings, and I’m happy with this result even though this year we weren’t really able to oppose Marquez. I wish to thank the team because we have managed to do a great job, especially from mid-season onwards, but it’s not enough and we will still have to continue to work with commitment.”

Álvaro Bautista – P7

“I struggled quite a lot with rear grip, I was losing a lot of traction on the exits of the corners and the bike was sliding around and running wide. I was quite limited with what I could do but I gave the maximum I could. We have finished as the second Ducati, four seconds behind Dovizioso on the factory bike, which I think is a good result and it keeps up my recent run of top ten finishes. It has been a good spell for us here in Asia.”

Jack Miller – P8

“We chose to use the medium tyre at the rear to try to do something different than the others. But we didn’t get the results we hoped for. From the beginning, I felt a lot of vibrations that didn’t allow me to have a competitive race pace. Honestly I expected more from this race”.

Danilo Petrucci – P9

“I’m not happy with the way things went today. We had a good pace throughout the weekend but today I couldn’t manage the tyres and I struggled since the start. I tried to do my best but the temperature didn’t help. Conditions will be different at Valencia and I hope to get a good result to finish the season”.

Hafizh Syahrin – P10

“It’s just unbelievable! First of all, I want to say thank you very much to my team, because they always believe in me and give me great motivation. Yesterday has been a disaster for us, but we made up for it. In the starting grid, I saw my father and was just emotional and had to hug him. I want to thank everybody that came here. To arrive in the top 10 for my home GP was my target, but to be honest, I didn’t believe it was possible. But in the end, we did it, which is incredible. I want to thank everybody; I love my family and my fans. I’m so happy!”

Aleix Espargaro’ – P11

“This was certainly one of the three most physically demanding races of my entire career. I started very badly and lost a lot of positions on the first turn, so I had to make up ground. After a few passes, a gap formed behind my brother, Pol. I managed to overtake him after a good battle. At that point, I was making up ground on the tenth place rider, but there were only a few laps left. Today’s result is positive, but we want to do more and we know we can, so we need to keep working and preparing our 2019 season as best we can.”

Franco Morbidelli – P12

“I am happy with this result, it was a nice recovery to gain so many positions after starting from 19th on the grid. I am very satisfied with the work the team did this weekend and now I am really looking forward to the final race in Valencia.”

Stefan Bradl – P13

“I’m happy, we finished in the points and that was my target. Of course, it was a tough race as I’d not ridden the bike in almost two months and then I arrived here in Malaysia and the conditions were unbelievably hot. Also the weather was inconsistent, so overall I think we did a good job and I’m happy with the team because they helped me a lot. As soon as I started with them this weekend it felt like I was back home, so I have to thank Lucio (Cecchinello) and the guys in the garage who did an incredible job. A big thanks to HRC as well as they built up a test schedule this year which allowed me this opportunity. Also I want to wish Cal (Crutchlow) a speedy recovery, I hope he’s recovering well and can come back as strong as he was before.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P14

“The race was a bit of a struggle. The track temperature was quite good, although the condition wasn’t perfect. We chose a medium tyre for the front and a soft for the rear and I think that was the correct choice for us. But we couldn’t find the same kind of performance as in FP3 when we had a strong pace, around 2’01 laps. I wasn’t able to do that in the race and for me it was difficult to find the rear grip. The team did a great job all weekend and hopefully we can get our best result of the season in the last race in Valencia.”

Bradley Smith – P15

“We were lacking performance all race with some technical issues which meant I couldn’t set my normal lap-times. I could still finish the race and took a point, which was a positive and there are just five points between Pol and me going into the last race. Five points is difficult to gain but it is still fun to be going into that situation. We worked well all weekend and the guys clearly know what they need to do and what they need to fix. I’m quite excited about Valencia. It will be my last Grand Prix and it is a track I enjoy. We’ll go there optimistic and keen to finish this chapter with KTM in a positive way.”

Tom Luthi – P16

“It was a hot race and I was struggling a little for the first two laps with rear edge grip and I nearly went down at the final corner. But then I found a good pace and felt good on the bike but later I struggled again with rear grip and I lost time which cost me a chance of some points. I was very close and so a pity that again I am in sixteenth place.”

Xavier Simeon – P17

“I knew that it would be a difficult race in dry conditions. Even though my start was better than in Australia, it still wasn’t good and I lost all the advantage I had with my starting position. But all in all, I am still satisfied with the outcome of the race, because I hadn’t felt comfortable in dry conditions before and in the race, my pace has been quite consistent and similar to the riders that finished close to the Top 10. Considering this, I am a little frustrated, because I did most of the things right to achieve another place within the point rankings, but I still struggle to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. In MotoGP, everything needs to be perfect and little details can make all the difference. Apart from that, the team has done a great job once again and I reduced the gap to the front runners a lot. In fact, I didn’t expect to be that close. Now we have to wait and see what will happen at Valencia. I hope Tito can ride again and for myself, I hope to enjoy my last race in MotoGP with the team.”

Valentino Rossi – P18

“It was a great shame because this was my best race of the season. I felt comfortable, I had a good pace, I pushed, and I had the chance to win, but unfortunately with four or five laps to go I fell – I don’t understand what happened. I made a mistake, because I crashed. It’s such a pity, but it still remains a good weekend, because we improved the setting of the bike. I think we have to do some more work, but it looks like we were able to use the bike in a better way in the last few races. This is good, but we have to see if we’re also strong in Valencia. It’s a difficult track for us in general, but we have to try.”

Scott Redding – P19

“Unfortunately, my race today ended after six laps. We had problems with grip throughout the weekend and as soon as the tyres began to wear a bit, it was impossible for me to push. Riding very aggressively, the improvement in times was minimum, so I was forced to set my sights on just finishing the race.”

Michele Pirro – DNF

“The fact that I only did one session on a dry track, with the race today being dry, for sure put me at a bit of a disadvantage. I started quite well and bit by bit was making up places when I lost the front at the last corner, probably because I pushed a bit too hard, and I crashed. I didn’t expect that to happen because I was trying to do a consistent race. I’m sorry for the team, and it’s a pity to finish the race in this way, because I could have got into the top 10 and instead I wasn’t able to bring home any points for the team.”

Andrea Iannone – DNF

“I’m a bit disappointed because we had the chance to take another podium, but I don’t want to focus on what happened today. I always try to think positively, and the good things are that I had strong pace and I had a really good feeling with the bike after the team and I worked hard together. So I’ll just remain focused on the last race of the season and I will give my all to have a good result there.”

Pol Espargaro – DNF

“I was losing power while I was eleventh and we don’t know at the moment what the problem was, the guys are checking. It has been a tough couple of weeks: we didn’t have a good feeling in Japan and in Australia we were fast but the tyre blew and now we’ve had this issue. It has a been a tough end to the season but we’ll go to Valencia looking to finish things in a good way before we already think about 2019.”

Karel Abraham – DNF

“It is incredible how much bad luck we have had this weekend. We had a technical problem on the first day, I had a crash as soon as it started raining yesterday and that left me in pain for today, when we had an electronic problem that shut the bike down and wouldn’t restart. I was feeling better this morning and I was close to the top ten in warm-up. I didn’t get a great start in the race but I had passed a couple of riders and was closing on Nakagami, who ended up fourteenth, when the bike stopped. We will work out the problem but I am disappointed because I think we could have repeated the performance from Japan and picked up some points, but unfortunately we go home with nothing.”

Team Managers

Herve Poncharal – Tech3 Yamaha Team Manager

“What an unbelievable day today here in Sepang Malaysia. I think the race direction took the right decision to move everything forward two hours. We had great sunshine, a beautiful race and regarding Monster Yamaha Tech3, I’m very proud. For Johann, after getting that great pole position last night, he got a great start, put his head down, followed Valentino (Rossi) for quite a few laps, then Marc (Marquez) came into that group and this trio has been almost leading the race for two thirds, then Johann dropped a little bit, but he was always in contention for that so dearly awaited podium, where we haven’t been since Jerez. I feel very sorry for Valentino, but he crashed, although I think he was doing a great race. At that moment we thought, the podium is almost in the bag and second position was quite easy and then we saw Rins coming from nowhere, doing incredible lap times. Congratulations to him. He passed us, but we are anyway very happy with the podium, a really strong weekend. It was a tough day today with the heat, with managing the body for the riders and also the tyres, so this is great. We are now leading the independent riders’ championship, which is the main target for us now – in fifth, joint with Alex Rins, so Valencia is going to be something to challenge for us. But of course, this is only one part of the garage. On the other side, I was feeling very sorry last night after Qualifying for Hafizh, because I know how important this Malaysian Grand Prix was for him. I know the effort he put in to reach MotoGP and finally for his first home GP he was so disappointed, so sad. I tried to cheer him up this morning, I tried to cheer him up on the grid and – I don’t know if there is a link in between what I told him and what he did, but the start was unreal. Maybe one of the best starts I’ve ever seen, at least this season and from that moment he was fighting with Miller, Petrucci and even Viñales at some stage. He finished the race in 10thposition, which is a dream for us and for him and I’m so happy, because Hafizh is not only an incredible team player, but he is a charming young man and he is the best ambassador Malaysia could have in MotoGP. I could feel how disappointed he was to see all the people coming to support him and him not delivering. Finally he did deliver and this is the cherry on the cake. We are going to fly back home after five weeks on the road, but we go home happy, positive in mind and ready to challenge what we have to do in Valencia.”

Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Team Director

“For sure this is not the ending we had hoped for this weekend. The final results don‘t do justice to the pace of our riders, because they both had really strong form this weekend. Maverick had to start from the fourth row and make up a lot of ground. If he had started a bit more towards the front, he would have been a top contender today, because his pace matched Vale‘s. Valentino did exactly what he needed to do at the start. He was leading the race perfectly, so it‘s a great shame it ended the way it did. Nevertheless, we can take some positives from these last three races, as we made a step with the bike and were consistent in our performance. Today we were competitive at a circuit that doesn‘t necessarily play to our bike‘s strengths. So, with that in mind, we head to Valencia eager to fight at the front again during the season finale.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“Finally everything was OK and we did a good job. Today is a bitter sweet feeling because both riders had great pace but sadly Andrea couldn’t finish the race – I’m sure he would’ve also fought for the podium. But Alex managed to achieve 2nd and we’re so happy because it’s our third consecutive podium and we’ve had two second places in a row. I really want to thank everyone involved in this project, this season has been so positive. In the final race we hope to achieve that one thing we’ve been missing…”

Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“Of course we’re very happy! We took another podium, our eighth of the season! It’s great that our riders have had four podiums each, it’s good news for us and for all of Suzuki. I want to congratulate Alex for keeping his head down and fighting until the end to take 2nd position, it was excellent. I’m very sorry for Andrea because he could’ve been fighting for the podium too but he incurred in a very unlucky crash. I would like to say a big thank you to all the Team staff that are working very hard on improving our level and of course to all the Japanese guys back in the factory. We are living a positive moment and now we look forward to the last race of the year!”

Mike Leitner – KTM Team Manager

“Disappointing today. Pol had good pace in the middle of the race and was going for tenth place but then we had a technical problem and we are still looking into the cause. Bradley got one point and while we cannot be happy with that we know that he gave his best. We’ll keep our motivation up for Valencia and look towards our next chapter in 2019. I think moments like these and the difficult first seasons are part of the learning process; it is a challenge, and we chose to be here. In Moto2 and Moto3 we were fighting until the end for the titles but it didn’t happen and we’ll look at things this winter and see what we can do better for next year.”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin

“This has been another Grand Prix where we have seen the tyres tested to extremes. The weekend began with lower temperatures than expected for Sepang on Friday – although still quite high – and the tyres performed really well and some very fast lap-times were set. This continued on Saturday morning and it looked like we were in a position to break the outright record in qualifying, but then it rained very heavily. This meant the MICHELIN Power Rain tyres were used in anger for one of the few times this year and again they gave excellent results in the difficult conditions. The times were quick and the grip was really good and it produced an exciting qualifying. Today then saw temperatures rise to more than we had seen all weekend and with the information the teams had and with the assistance from their respective technicians, the best tyres were chosen. This produced a fast race which saw us break the duration record, this is one of the most important time benchmarks for us, as it shows the durability and consistency over race distance. There were also three different manufacturers on the podium, which is again a very important marker for Michelin, as it shows performance for all types of bikes. This has been a long trip, but we have had some very good results, learned a lot about the overall performance of the slick and wet tyres and the different compounds in many changeable conditions. We now head back to Europe for the final round and then get ready to start testing for 2019.”