Riders and Team Managers air their thoughts on the Monsoonal MotoGP of Motegi

Riders air their thoughts on the Monsoonal MotoGP of Motegi

MotoGP 2017 – Round 15 – Motegi

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Andrea Dovizioso – P1

“It was a difficult race because at the start there wasn’t much grip and I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike but I never gave up, not even when I was losing ground, and this made all the difference. Marc was really quick and he tried right until the end, but there were some places where I could attack and he also made a small mistake on the last lap which gave me a chance to catch him again and try and pass him at Turn 11. I knew that he was going to attack me in the final two corners but I was prepared for this, I closed the door on him and he had to go a bit wide to pass me. It was absolutely vital to win here and I’m really so pleased for the whole team and for the championship.”

Marc Marquez – P2

“Of course I tried and gave it my 100%, fighting until the last lap and the last corner. It was an amazing race with the two guys fighting for the Championship fighting for the win. Today there was a lot of water on track and for some reason I was struggling a little more than expected. I tried to push and be smooth but Andrea was very fast too for the entire race. Entering the last lap, I knew I had only a very small advantage ahead but then I made a small mistake in turn eight, well, quite a big mistake actually, and he caught me. After he passed he was very strong on the brakes and I wasn’t able to match him. In the last corner I tried again but it was not possible to pass him again. Today he did an incredible race and won but anyway I’m happy with our result as I was expecting him to be very very fast here. We scored some good points and made a good show for the fans so it’s ok”.

Marc Marquez - Image by AJRN — Marc Marquez – Image by AJRN

Danilo Petrucci – P3

“It was an extraordinary race. After Mugello this is the podium that makes me happier. I tried to push from the first laps and when I was in front with a good gap I thought I could get to the end and win my first victory. Dovi and Marc, however, have been faster. It was nice to be behind them to see that battle. I feel very close to being there and I will try in the next three races. I would like to thank the team for their great work. This is a great moment for us”.

Danilo Petrucci - Image by AJRN — Danilo Petrucci – Image by AJRN

Andrea Iannone – P4

“Finally this was a race that I enjoyed. It has been a positive one for us. I had a good start and was able to keep a consistent pace. I’m happy for the improvements we made from the time of the warm-up to the race which allowed us to find that consistency. It’s also positive that we could have a good race right here in Japan. It’s a good sign after the struggles we have faced this year. We still have much work to do and to improve, but compared to the beginning of the season, we are now more aware of where we can improve. I want to thank the whole Suzuki Company for all the effort they are putting into the project, and also my crew, and the whole Team Suzuki Ecstar. They have never given up and they continue to believe in me.”

Andrea Iannone - Image by AJRN — Andrea Iannone – Image by AJRN

Alex Rins – P5

“I think it has been the best weekend of the season so far. The result is fantastic and the bike has worked pretty well in wet conditions the whole weekend. The race was very positive. I started a bit far back when in the first corners someone forced me to go wide and I lost some more positions, falling back to 15th. It took me some time to regain my position in the race, but I finally managed it and finished in 5th, so I’m very happy. I lost some time behind Zarco but the conditions of track were not easy. I can say I learnt so many things today and now we are facing the Australian race with more optimism.”

Jorge Lorenzo – P6

“I can’t be happy with my race, because we had the potential to try and win if there hadn’t been so much water on the track. We weren’t able to find the right setting to be quick in these conditions and without rear grip it was impossible for me to do anything more. I gradually succeeded in getting a better feeling with the bike, and I improved my pace and was able to pass Viñales, Zarco and Aleix Espargaro. In the end we were missing almost a second per lap today, and that’s a pity because this weekend we were always fast. I want to congratulate Andrea, because he’s proving to be a really strong rider, mentally as well, and he is able to take advantage of every chance of fighting for the world title. Hats off, and congratulations to him and all the team!”

Jorge Lorenzo - Image by AJRN — Jorge Lorenzo – Image by AJRN

Aleix Espargaro – P7

“Seventh place is a good result, but our potential was better than that. To be honest, I am disappointed. After the speed we demonstrated all weekend, our expectations were different. Unfortunately, I never found my rhythm in the race. I had big problems with aquaplaning that cost me a lot of ground. I don’t really understand it. I even tried to change the engine map, but the situation did not improve much. Toward the end of the race, when it stopped raining, I was able to do a few good laps, getting close to the Suzukis, but then it started raining again and I had to settle. In these final races I want to try to get into the top ten in the rider standings.”

Aleix Espargaro - Image by AJRN — Aleix Espargaro – Image by AJRN

Johann Zarco – P8

“It was a tough race. I had a good start and the feeling was quite ok at the beginning. However, the rear was sliding a little bit but I was able to control it and overall, the front felt great which allowed me to brake how I wanted to. I was slightly limited with the corner entry yet, on the whole, it was positive. Some riders overtook me but I managed to stay with them, even if I lost a bit in acceleration. This means that we are doing a good job as we can make this same step in the wet as well as the dry. I waited when I was running in 4th and I thought that I would get more confident with the front and then catch the leading group. Yet, the opposite happened and despite the fact that I always felt good on the brakes, the tyres wore, which limited me. By the end of the race, there was a lot of spinning and even though I tried my best to find a solution on the straight by carefully opening and closing the throttle to catch some grip, the other riders got past me. This was why I lost the positions at the end but we will try again in Australia next week.”

Johann Zarco - Image by AJRN — Johann Zarco – Image by AJRN

Maverick Vinales – P9

“I expected things to be a little bit worse, because this morning I was trying to be in the top-15. Finally, in the race, I pushed a lot in the beginning. I tried to risk only the necessary, trying to give our best. Today this was the maximum and we will have to think now about Australia. Until all the points are collected it is impossible to know if there is still a chance to win the championship. For sure we we’ll face different circumstances in Australia. It will be a different bike and different tyres, we don’t know what we’re going to have there, but it’s a track I like a lot, I like to ride there, so I can’t wait to be on the bike again.”

Maverick Vinales - Image by AJRN — Maverick Vinales – Image by AJRN

Loris Baz – P10

“Considering how the weekend started with a gap of more than three seconds to the fastest guys, the result is not bad. The first laps were very difficult, the conditions were extreme and I don’t remember ever being in a race with so much water. To be honest, being in the middle of the group was very dangerous because you could not see a thing, as far as safety goes it was right on the limit. At the beginning of the racee, I was holding back because of the visibility, but once I started to see a little more I tried to gain some positions. When I caught Dani (Pedrosa) I struggled to overtake him, but since I had no rhythm to move forward, I stayed calm until I saw the right moment to pass. I’m happy because my team did a great job over the weekend and this ‘top ten’ after several races without scoring points is a good result.”

Pol Espargaro – P11

“It is so hard to ride in these conditions, but considering this is the first time we’ve been here in Japan with the KTM it has been super impressive to qualify so well as a team and then face this race with this amount of water on the track. We’ve never raced in conditions such as these and that was such a step, but in the end I finished 11th. Finishing the race was a priority; we did that as a team so we’ve got more points in the pocket not just from a top 15 finish, but a finish from just on the cusp of the top 10.”

Sam Lowes – P13

“In the early laps I struggled to get the tyres and brakes up to temperature because of all the water. Once I found my pace, I was able to ride a good race. I overtook a lot of riders and had a fun ride. With three weekends in a row, it is important to get off on the right foot. I managed to do that, also gaining great experience in such difficult conditions. I had gotten very close to Pol in eleventh place. Maybe I wouldn’t have been able to overtake him because there were only a few corners left, but the bike had a problem and we will have to look into what caused it. I lost a position, but I am satisfied with how I rode throughout the weekend anyway. I finished in the points and, above all, I battled down to the last lap.”

Hector Barbera – P14

“It’s been a pretty difficult weekend, because normally I’m a very fast rider in wet conditions, as I’ve shown on many occasions in the past. But here I’ve suffered a lot. This is a track that usually has good grip, but I couldn’t find in the three days of the Grand Prix. Maybe when it rains we are going too soft with the set-up of my bike and maybe today it would have been better to have the bike harder…I don’t know, we have to analyze the data to make sure this doesn’t happen again. 14th place is not bad after the last few races, but to be honest is not where I would like to be.”

Tito Rabat – P15

“It was a difficult weekend, always wet and very cold but it was good opportunity to improve my riding style in the wet especially in braking. I gave 100% but to go faster was very high risk in these conditions and I almost crashed twice on the rear when opening the gas. In racing you have to take any gift and this one point in Motegi is a good reward and I’m now very motivated to go to Australia next week.”

Scott Redding – P16

“If I have to be honest, my desire is to forget this weekend as soon as possible. I never found a good feeling and I could not make any progress after FP1. I tried to push in the race as well, but I had problems. I found the feeling of Friday morning after a few laps but I wasted a lot of time starting from behind. In the last laps I had problems with aquaplaning that didn’t allow me to gain more positions. There are three races missing and I want to give the maximum to finish in a positive way a very difficult season for me”.

Scott Redding - Image by AJRN — Scott Redding – Image by AJRN

Bradley Smith – P17

“They were tricky conditions out there with a lot of water; kinda similar to what we had in Misano but here it just kept on raining. I went back a bit from seventh on the grid…but I was seventh on the grid! It’s been a positive weekend in many ways and through all of the sessions even after a small crash this morning which put me a little on edge at the start. We have had many positives from the wet laps here to take forward to Phillip Island and Sepang, particularly for it rains there. Overall I’m happy with the overall weekend as it was the first time in these conditions so we’ll learn going forward.”

Hiroshi Aoyama – P18

‘“I am very disappointed because I don’t know what happened in the race, I didn’t have any rear grip, nothing. In a wet race I thought with my experience I could get a good result here in Motegi but it was not possible. On the second lap I almost crashed, I had very big moment and even though I saved it I lost a lot of time so my race was already over. It was pity because the team worked hard for a good result. I want to thank the team for this opportunity, it was not easy to come in for one race to replace Jack.”

Valentino Rossi – DNF

“Today was the end of a very difficult weekend. Because of the wet conditions I was not very competitive, I was struggling a lot with the wet setting of the bike. In the race I was trying to follow Aleix Espargaró and I was trying to stick with him, but unfortunately I crashed. Now we’ll try to do some good races and it will be important during the next weekends to give Yamaha as much information as possible to improve the bike and to decide on the direction for next year.”

Valentino Rossi - Image by AJRN — Valentino Rossi – Image by AJRN

Dani Pedrosa – DNF

“It’s been a very difficult day and I’m really disappointed as there was a great opportunity to have a nice race. We have improved so much during the free practice sessions, from FP1 to yesterday, but it isn’t clear what happened with the rear tyre today in the race. At the beginning the rear tyre spun a lot and I lost a lot of traction which prevented me from opening the throttle on the straight. This issue continued to persist and halfway through the race it became worse and worse. I tried everything to make the bike work but it was almost impossible to ride in these conditions. I lost so much time and when I finally dropped out of the points I took the decision to retire, rather than crash. With so much water on track I didn’t expect to have problems with the extra soft rear tire and in fact Petrucci used the same one and he ended up on the podium. We will study together with Michelin the data and try to avoid it from happening again.”

Cal Crutchlow – DNF

“Obviously, it’s a disappointing end to the Japanese Grand Prix. I was fighting at the start of the race, but I was really far back in the pack and there was so much spray from the other bikes I think all the riders found it very difficult to see. Then unfortunately I crossed the river at turn seven, there was some rear brake pressure and I high-sided the bike off throttle. But I remounted and took the spare bike and then had a very strange crash as I was not pushing hard and was about to enter the pit in one more lap because I was not going to score any points. We hit the stream of water in the back straight, but it was a really mysterious crash the second one. Now we have to take the positives to Phillip Island, which are that I won there last year, but there have been no real positives from the Japanese Grand Prix apart from visiting Japan itself.”

Cal Crutchlow - Image by AJRN — Cal Crutchlow – Image by AJRN

Álvaro Bautista – DNF

“I don’t know what caused my crash. I entered the corner off the gas, without braking, and I lost the rear. We were having a good weekend and we had found a good feeling in the wet which was getting better, but this morning we were told that we couldn’t use the soft front tyre. In the warmup my good feeling disappeared. We didn’t have time to react with the medium front, as we couldn’t work on anything. Everything we had done before was spoiled. I’m unhappy with the situation; it is not fair that this be changed at a crucial moment. We could have been fighting for the top ten, now that we are getting better in the wet.”

Álvaro Bautista - Image by AJRN — Álvaro Bautista – Image by AJRN

Karel Abraham – DNF

“I’m really angry now, because the start of the race and the opening laps weren’t bad. I think we were in a group fighting for points and the bike was working pretty well, and then -just before the last corner- I went into the lefthander and highsided without having pushed the brake or the throttle. I’m angry because I don’t know how to ride the bike if this happens -I don’t know what I could have done differently to avoid this situation. I don’t think I made any mistake, and I’ve crashed in three consecutive races. We have different problems in the dry, but I can’t ride with these issues in the wet. We had a very good base and started well, I felt very good, but I don’t know what I could have done to have avoided a crash.”

Kohta Nozane – DNF

“After the warm-up session, under a local anaesthetic, I decided that I could race today. The track conditions were pretty bad this afternoon when compared to this morning. If I was not injured then I could have managed the GP better, but the fact is that I crashed quite early on. I am frustrated with myself and I have to say sorry to Yamaha and to the entire team. However, these three days have been like a dream and again I would like to thank Yamaha and Hervé for trusting me!”

Team Managers

Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager

“There was so much tension today but in the end also so much satisfaction! Andrea was awesome, he did a truly perfect race, and in so doing reduced the gap from Marquez to eleven points. His fifth win of the season, here in Japan, has a special significance and I’m really happy. Pity about Jorge, who wasn’t able to get the result in a weekend in which he had always been competitive. Now we are thinking about Phillip Island, and we know that it will be a tough battle until the very end but we have all the right cards to fight for the title right down to the wire.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“This year, at least until now, we have struggled a lot to get some good results. Therefore I’m very happy about today’s race. We couldn’t get to the podium, but the progress we made is solid and consistent. We improved throughout the whole weekend and the configuration we employed for the race proved to be beneficial for the riders, who also had positive performances themselves. Now we can be a little more relaxed because we were able to demonstrate this to all our fans and engineers from Japan, and to all the people supporting us. Now we have to try to repeat it – and also further improve – these performances in dry conditions as well. I want to thank you, the riders, the whole team, and all the people that came to Motegi today to support us. We will try to push hard until the end of the season.”

MotoGP 2017 - Round 15 - Moteg — MotoGP 2017 – Round 15 – Moteg

Davide Brivio – Team Suzuki Manager

“Today we can be very happy. Although this was not a podium or a victory, it is a great result considering the struggles we encountered throughout the season. This is an important result and it is positive that both riders got into the top five right here in Japan, with our President and all the Management with us in the garage. We gave them a good show to enjoy. The weekend has been tough because of the conditions; it was very easy to make a mistake in the race, but the riders have been very good. Andrea had a good pace the whole race. Alex was force to make a comeback from 15th to 5th place, and he did it perfectly. This result gives us some breathing room. We are aware that this race has been run in peculiar conditions, but it’s important we haven’t made any mistakes.”

Mike Leitner – KTM Team Manager MotoGP

“For all riders that was a difficult race but especially for us as we have not so many kilometres of experience in the wet, but we performed so well yesterday in qualifying that gave us a chance today. Much of this on going improvement is coming from the KTM Motorsport team in Austria who are working so hard reacting, designing and manufacturing new parts. In today’s race, when you have to look after the tyre we still have potential to improve. Pol did so well and to be fair, Bradley was not so bad at all but not quite in the points, but after his great qualifying yesterday he showed he can ride a bike well. But as I said, in the rain we’ll take this data forward for the next wet race that could easily be in Australia or Malaysia.”

Michael Bartholemy – MarcVDS Team Principal

“In these conditions it was important for Tito to finish in the points so a positive feeling for the first of the fly-away races before going to Australia. I just hope the weather conditions are better in Phillip Island. It was difficult race for Hiroshi but I am happy he could replace Jack and I want to thank him for doing that and even in these conditions he was able to finish the race. Jack has been home in Townsville but will be back for Phillip Island and he has been out cycling and his fitness is coming back. We look forward to a nice weekend with Jack at his home race.”

Massimo Meregalli – Movistar Yamaha Team Director

“When we arrived here in Japan, we weren‘t expecting this weekend to be as difficult as it turned out to be. We really worked hard to try to find a solution. We put in a lot of effort, but we weren‘t able to do it in the end. We never found the rear grip that the riders were looking for in almost all the sessions, as well as in the race itself, but Maverick and Valentino tried to make the best of it. We know that we have a lot of work ahead of us, and I expect that we will use the next round to explore different solutions for the future.”

Hervé Poncharal – Yamaha Tech3 Team manager

“Altogether I believe that it has been a positive weekend for the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team. It was an incredible feeling on Saturday to get the pole position with Johann Zarco for the Motul Grand Prix of Japan. This was special for us all and also for our partners, with Motul being the title sponsor for this race and I’m sure it’s something that they enjoyed. We knew that today was going to be very difficult as the conditions were really challenging and almost dangerous. There was a lot of standing water on the track and it never stopped raining. Yet, Johann had a great start and stayed behind the top three for most of the race. However, we knew that the end of the GP would be tricky and Johann quite easily kept the riders behind him until the last five laps, and there we couldn’t fight anymore as there was no more grip on the rear tyre. To lose four positions in the final few laps is not something that we can be happy about but 8th is still a good result and we collected some valuable points. Overall, the weekend was positive and I would like to thank Yamaha for looking after us in the way that they did. On the other side of the pit box, Kohta Nozane was really impressive on Friday and we thought that he would eventually be fighting for a top ten finish on race day. Unfortunately, a small mistake at the beginning of FP4 saw him crash and fracture his right hand, which meant it would be very difficult. Yet, he never gave up and worked hard throughout the night to get his hand fixed. The warm-up went well, so we thought it was ok to compete. However, I think it was just a bit too much and he wanted to start his home Grand Prix so we gave Kohta the chance and I’m happy we did. Yet, we were not very confident because we could see how badly his hand was and at such a hard braking circuit, with a fractured right hand, it was almost impossible. I would like to thank him and I think he has shown that he has a really good level and he could be a very successful MotoGP rider in the near future. I don’t know what Yamaha has planned, but it was a pleasure for us to look after Kohta. He is a really nice guy and we would eventually like to give him another chance to show his full potential. Thanks to the whole team and we will pack everything tonight and then head to Australia where we hope there will be no rain.”

Kohta Nozane - Image by AJRN — Kohta Nozane – Image by AJRN

Romano Albesiano – Aprilia Racing Manager

“Aleix’s result is another placement that confirms us stably in the MotoGP top ten. It was a very positive weekend in which we demonstrated great competitiveness both in true wet conditions and in mixed dry and damp conditions which had really penalised us in the past, so this is also a very important sign of improvement. In practice we did much better than we did in the race and that indicates that we need to improve our race management so that on Sunday we can confirm all the good we are able to do in practice and now in qualifying as well. It was also a nice race for Sam who does very well in these conditions and he managed to finish in the points.”

Aleix Espargaro gets a lift with Loris Baz - Image by AJRN — Aleix Espargaro gets a lift with Loris Baz – Image by AJRN

Fausto Gresini – Aprilia Team Manager

“Aleix did a very good job. We can be satisfied and today Sam also demonstrated his qualities in the wet. Of course, we were in the top spots all weekend, but a finish like this should be considered positive because it is still a top ten and because our goal here was to confirm the nice result from Aragón, so we are in line with this target. It is true that in the race we did not repeat our extraordinary performance in practice and qualifying, but we had some spinning that we had not had even in warm up. In any case, we battled once again today with fierce rivals, leaving several behind us.”

Nicolas Goubert – Michelin

“This has been a very demanding weekend and one that we did not really expect. To have two or three wet sessions is a lot, but for every session and then the race to be wet is unheard of.

MotoGP 2017 - Round 15 - Motegi - Michelin — MotoGP 2017 – Round 15 – Motegi – Michelin

“We had to work very hard all weekend with all the teams to get the best performance and having so much track-time with so many riders – and in those conditions – helped us to do one of the most comprehensive tests on the rain tyres we have ever been able to complete.

“The race produced some incredible battles and very fast lap-times, so the rain tyres certainly produced a lot of grip and confidence, which allowed the riders to push to the limits.

“To be so close to the dry lap-record in these conditions is evidence that again the tyres are giving the utmost performance in all conditions. We will work on the data we have learned this weekend and continue to improve. Now we head to one of the most challenging races of the year, as we go to Australia and our ‘own’ Grand Prix.”