MotoGP Riders and Team Managers reflect on the #ArgentinaGP

2019 MotoGP
Round Two – Argentina

MotoGP Rider and Team Manager Quotes

Marc Marquez – P1

“Today was a perfect day. I have been so concentrated since FP1 and everything worked well, just a tiny hiccup in FP4. But we kept pushing, pushing and in the race I knew that my strongest point was the first five laps. I put everything in and then I saw the difference, one second, two seconds, three seconds and then I settled into my rhythm and pushed a little less. I managed the tyres and the bike, it was a really sweet feeling with the bike.”

Valentino Rossi – P2

“It’s been a long time – since Sachsenring last year – that I’ve been on the podium. This second place is especially satisfying, because at the last two races last year, Malaysia and Valencia, I was lying in first and second place, but I made some mistakes. Finishing the championship like that was very difficult to accept, so also for this reason this result is so important for me, my team, and Yamaha, after a difficult period. I’m so happy! I tried to stay in front, because I expected to be faster, but today with the increased temperatures I struggled a bit more. Dovi stayed in front of me and rode a very good race with a good pace. We were able to break away from the guys behind us and be on our own. In that moment I knew I had to be very precise on braking to take second place, without making any mistake of even 1cm, else Dovi would pass me again. At that moment I was riding good, I entered very fast. I’m happy because, first of all, overtaking on the last lap is always special, and also because I did very good on braking.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P3

“I’m undoubtedly happy with the podium, which was our goal ahead of this round on a historically difficult track for us. On the other hand, I’m not particularly satisfied with how the rear tyre performed, because we couldn’t pull away towards the end of the race, which is the opposite of what we expected in light of what we’ve seen during practice. In the last lap, I couldn’t shake off Rossi or pass him back, it would have been too risky and 16 points are still very important for us. For sure, we collected some interesting data, which we’ll analyse in depth ahead of next race. Austin is yet another tricky track for us theoretically, so our goal in Texas will be to try to step once again on the podium.”

Jack Miller – P4

“I am obviously satisfied with the result we achieved in Argentina, although I may have lacked some experience. I fought a lot with Petrucci and Morbidelli and this duel made me lose contact with the riders in front. All thing considered it’s okay because today we have learned a lot. We are working very well and for this I thank the team”.

Alex Rins – P5

“The race was incredible, I didn’t make any mistakes which was amazing given how slippery and tricky the track was. I really need to improve my grid positions in the next races, so I’m aiming for better qualifying sessions because my starting position really cost me today. But I’m happy to bring home a Top 5 for myself and the team.”

Danilo Petrucci – P6

“I’m happy because, after making some mistakes during qualifying, today we managed to give our best out there on track. Had I started a bit closer to the front, I probably could have fought for the podium until the very end, but I had to ask a lot to the tyres to climb back through the field and in the last couple of laps I was really struggling with the rear under braking, so I had to play defense. Still, I’m satisfied because we worked well here, improving day by day, and I want to maintain the momentum at Austin, where first and foremost I’ll need to be stronger in qualifying. Our goal is to ride constantly at the front and score points, which will be crucial in such a long season.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P7

“I’m pretty happy about today’s result. The race was quite tough because I chose the soft rear compound as I wanted to try and push towards the front after the start. But unfortunately I struggled to find a grip with it from the beginning and so it was a demanding race for me. But we tried to do our best, the race pace was consistent throughout apart from the last five laps when the grip was nearly gone. I’m happy to finish P7, which is my best result in a dry race, and I really want to thank the team who did a great job this weekend. We are closing the gap to the top and are really looking forward to Texas where we can make another step forward.”

Fabio Quartararo – P8

“I am very happy with what we have done today in Argentina. I was worried before coming here because we had not tested at the track, and it is a circuit at which I had always struggled in other classes, but I was always in the Top 10 this weekend, so it’s been very positive. I learned a lot from the other riders today; I made some mistakes at the start, through being over-eager to do things well. It was my first time in the middle of a group battling with a full fuel tank, so it wasn’t easy. Later on we were able to find our pace and have a good race. I want to thank the entire team for the great work they have done, both today and throughout the weekend.”

Aleix Espargaro’ – P9

“I cannot help but to be satisfied, especially if I look at the championship standings, which are what really counts anyway, because being ninth after two races is not bad at all. To be honest, I had hoped to do better, especially in the second part of the race. We were undecided about whether to use the medium or the soft and in the end we chose the soft, but just as I was thinking about going after Quartararo, I felt a clear drop in tyre performance. I started to have a lot of spin and it was impossible to maintain my pace. They were eight very difficult laps, but finishing ninth, even if there was a double crash ahead of me, is not bad at all. Until we are ready for better placements, it will be important to finish the races and collect points.”

Pol Espargaro – P10

“Satisfied for sure. We got some points and we did a good race. We were fifteen seconds away from second place and it was a faster race than last year. We are closing the gap to the top guys but still missing grip in some conditions. I fought with my brother for that ninth position at the end but couldn’t make it happen. Anyway: an improvement from Qatar. The bike is getting better and I think on these tracks – Qatar, Argentina and Austin – we have been struggling in the past and we can see we are closing the gap and getting better and better. Miguel had a great race and we can see he was fast from the warm-up.”

Miguel Oliveira – P11

“I’m truly delighted about this race. It’s nice to finish in the points, which was our target coming to Argentina. In the end, it was a good weekend with a good qualifying, we improved in our time attack, I felt good with the bike, so now it’s a week to rest and to come back to Texas, which is another track we need to discover with this bike but I’m quite pleased with my performance in Argentina, second KTM, very close to Pol, so I think we are on the right way.”

Jorge Lorenzo – P12

“First of all I want to say congratulations to the Repsol Honda Team and Marc Marquez for winning this race. Marc has been fantastic all weekend. In Warm Up we made quite a big step and I was able to be faster and I felt good for the race. Unfortunately we had some very unlucky things happen, at the start I hit the pit limiter and the bike wouldn’t go. When I realised I was at the back so I had to fight through, I was able to move forward but we can’t be happy with this result.”

Cal Crutchlow – P13

“First of all I want to thank my team for a great weekend and a positive race pace, I think we showed today that we would have been able to fight for the podium and probably would have had a good, safe second place. But we didn’t, the stewards said that I jumped the start, which I completely disagree with, as do my team, and we’re disappointed with this ride through penalty. But we accept the situation, we had to do a ride through and then I rode the best job that I could for the rest of the race with a good pace. Now I have to continue to look forward to Texas where we’ll plan to do another good race.”

Pecco Bagnaia – P14

“It was very important to finish the race and understand as much as possible. I am quite happy with the result: it is a good starting point. I understood a lot about how to ride in the first phase of the race. I got off to a good start and managed to go fast but I overheated the front tyre. It was a good weekend and we are going to Austin with confidence.”

Johann Zarco – P15

“I struggled all the race and nearly hit Lorenzo at the beginning which almost put me in last place. I had a good feeling in the first eight laps but could not pass my opponents and then it began to be harder and harder to ride the bike. I used a lot of energy to get in the points and was passed by two riders and in the end was lucky to get 15th position. It is difficult to have these kinds of races. At the moment I cannot ride how I want but will work to the maximum with the team to adapt to this condition. Later we will have more things to work on. Pol and Miguel had a nice race so if I can at least get close to them or be the first KTM will be some satisfaction but to get near the top we’ll need to do some other things. I want to keep as positive as possible and I know that all what we are going through now will make me stronger in the future.”

Hafizh Syahrin – P16

“I’m very happy that we improved on our last race! Thank you very much to the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team because they all kept believing in me. I was fully motivated for the race, although the beginning was difficult. I’m satisfied because I was able to stick with Johann (Zarco), although we need to work on the rear. We finished very close to the points, but still far from the top. We need to learn, be patient and keep the motivation high.“

Andrea Iannone – P17

“On this track, we struggled in a bit of a strange way, because our difficulties began when the grip increased. Usually, performance increases with more grip, so understanding this anomaly needs to be our primary goal. I’m not worried. I know what my potential is and I have faith in Aprilia’s work. Even today, if I had started a couple of rows farther forward, I would have been able to stay with the group, considering the fact that I lost a lot of ground on the straight without any slipstream.”

Maverick Vinales – DNF

“I saw the replay of the incident with Franco and it was nothing. It was the last lap and we all tried to be at our best, so it’s just one mistake, and it is what it is. Maybe at the next race I will make the same mistake, it’s something you can explain, it’s not a problem. The soft tyres were for sure the right decision, because in the first lap, though I didn’t start well, I was overtaking many riders, so finally at the end of lap 1 I think I was third or fourth. So that was not bad. But the bike wasn’t working perfectly, so we need to keep working and see if we can solve it for the next race. Honestly, I feel good at every track, we show good potential. It’s always in the race that we have an issue. When the bike is there, I’m always in the top-3.”

Franco Morbidelli – DNF

“The race had been going very well for us and we were fighting for the top positions – just like we wanted to do. I felt very strong in parts of the circuit. I had a great time dicing with Rossi, Miller and Crutchlow, and it was a really good race until the final lap. I was fighting for sixth position when I reached Viñales. I didn’t want to try a pass, but I couldn’t brake properly due to the double slipstream. Maybe it was this – combined with his attempt to cut in to pass Petrucci – that led us both to go down. It was a shame for both of us, but fortunately we are both okay. It’s important to take away the positives from this race, so that we can keep at the same level and continue improving at the next round. Both Yamaha and the team have worked really well throughout the weekend, which is what I’ll take away from this race.”

Joan Mir  – DNF

“We’re still in the process of checking what happened today, but I didn’t feel good with the rear grip right from the beginning of the race. I made a decent start, and when I was behind Alex I was ready to try and go with him through the pack. It would have been good to learn from him and work together. This is the first time I’ve pulled into pitlane in my career, but I was really feeling something strange from the rear end.”

Team Managers

Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“We are very happy and satisfied with this second place, though we are disappointed for Maverick. This weekend the team worked really well. We had some difficulties in FP1 and we were able to correct them and find solutions quite early on. This morning after the Warm Up, Valentino ultimately made the right decision for him, choosing the medium rear tyre. It has been a good team effort, so we really want to enjoy this second place. Maverick was feeling well on the soft tyres during Warm Up, so he decided to go ahead with them. However, already from the beginning of the race he was having difficulties when stopping the bike. We have to analyse this problem and try to understand it, because it’s a pity he couldn’t be as fast as this morning. To make matter worse, he was collected by Morbidelli on the final lap. It was a shame, but the most important thing is that both riders are OK. Still, the podium result is a good boost for us all and gives us good motivation for the next round.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Yamaha MotoGP Team Manager

“If we analyse only the race, we are happy with Fabio Quartararo’s result and even more so after listening to his comments, in which he explained that he struggled early on with a full tank. We are satisfied with his eighth position, in what is only his second race in MotoGP. Franco Morbidelli was up at the front from the start of the race and fought until the last lap. It’s a shame about his crash, because we lost some important points, but it was a race situation in which three riders were going for it. Fortunately, everyone involved is fine. It has been a positive weekend overall, for our riders and for the team, so we’ll take that away from Argentina and prepare for Austin, where in two weeks’ time we will try to get good results for both riders.”

Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Team Manager

“We know the category is very hard for each and every position and we are super-happy that Pol achieved this tenth place and also Miguel had an amazing race. Johann got into the points again: he is still not happy with the bike but we will keep on pushing to make a package where he can perform in the future. We will help him in all aspects. It was a positive weekend and we will go to Texas thinking about what we can do better. We also know that people are working very hard in the company and we are thankful for that. We are constantly getting parts and we will push all together to get consistently inside the top ten: this is the target. We are happy with tenth today but we were almost ninth.”

Hervé Poncharal KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“Argentina is definitely a place, that the Tech3 Racing team likes. After 2018, we leave this Grand Prix also 2019 with a big smile on our faces. From Friday mornings’ FP1 to the race, we improved every single session with both riders. Miguel has done an incredible job. He has been really working hard, trying to recover from the slight disappointment to have missed the points in Qatar and he made us very happy, very proud. It’s only his second MotoGP race and I think what he does is the work of a very established and experienced MotoGP rider. I definitely would like to thank him a lot and to congratulate him. I believe he is a strong asset for the whole KTM Racing department and we are happy to see Pol and Miguel pushing each other until the flag. I think this is good for KTM to gather all this information from different riding styles and I would like to thank KTM for the good bike we have had this weekend. I believe this was a really strong weekend, which will for sure give a big boost to all of us. I wouldn’t like to finish this quote for the Argentina Grand Prix with a very special thank you to Hafizh Syahrin, who was a bit lost in Qatar. But the way he recovered here in Argentina from FP1 was amazing. He has been fighting the whole race long with Johann Zarco, he never let anything in between them two. He has been pushing from the start of the race until the line. At one stage there was a mistake in the race result and he was in 15th, which would have been incredibly rewarding for his effort, but anyway top 16 is a great thing. He has been fighting with other riders, he has been passing riders like Mir, Rabat, Abraham, Iannone and this is something we are very proud of. We knew he had a great potential, but we wanted him to show it on KTM, which is, what he has done today. So, again, well done and thank you very much Hafizh! Both of our riders and the whole team have a week off now and we see each other in Texas, to start where we left off here in Argentina.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“Qualifying was a bit of a disaster for both our riders, but Alex recovered really well today and I’m very happy with his performance and the overall performance of the whole team. We had a good chance of a podium here, but given the circumstances we’re very pleased with 5th place. We are sorry that Joan wasn’t able to show his potential and could not finish the race. We’ll be back to fight again at the next race.”

Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“In the end the race was very exciting with Alex, he made an unbelievable recovery and came very close to the podium once again. This time it was very difficult because of the grid position, but his result shows how competitive we can be. Alex turned a bad Saturday into a good Sunday. Unfortunately Joan suffered a problem with the rear tyre which we’re still investigating, he couldn’t ride properly or push. It’s a pity for him, but we’ll look forward to Texas.”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager

“Heading here we knew this was one of the biggest examinations of the tyres in the whole season. We brought a full range of rear symmetric tyres – which was something we hadn’t done at any track before – and we were very pleased with how the whole selection performed all weekend. The Free Practice sessions were all very fast and so was Qualifying and all the tyres showed good consistency. Today with the increase in temperature at the time of the race, there were many decisions made as to the correct compounds, as it was hotter than it had been all weekend, but our technicians worked with the teams and riders to make the best choices for the conditions. It was good to see three manufacturers on the podium, as this again shows we are making tyres that are competitive for all. Now it is time to head to Austin and what promises to be another challenging event on a very demanding track – but we are certainly up to the task!”

2019 MotoGP – Round Two – Argentina
Race Results

MotoGP Championship Points