MotoGP Riders & Team Managers reflect on Jerez & look towards testing today

MotoGP 2022 – Round Six – Jerez
Gran Premio Red Bull de España
MotoGP Rider Quotes

Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“I am moved. The first victory last year at Aragon was certainly very important, but today’s was even more beautiful and much more difficult. We come from a tough period in which, for various reasons, we have never been able to show our real potential, but here I knew that we were in the right conditions to do well. We have been working hard since Qatar, and finally, today, we arrived ready for the race. I pushed really hard and lapped consistently throughout the 25 laps. I’m proud of the work that has been done, not only with my team, which I thank but also at home with the Academy and my family!”

Fabio Quartararo – P2

“It was a really tough race. I tried to overtake Pecco on the first lap because I knew that staying behind him was going to be difficult for my front tyre. I tried everything, but he was really fast. I think the pace that we managed today was just insane. My front tyre was superhot, super high pressure. I couldn‘t brake harder, but I could maintain that pace with him. I think the gap to the guys behind us was quite big, so both of us were really fast today. Congratulations to him. It wasn‘t a real battle, because we didn‘t overtake, but it was still an intense race. We enjoyed it a lot.”

Aleix Espargaro – P3

“What we are doing is incredible! I knew I didn’t have the same pace as Bagnaia and Quartararo, but with a better start I would have been able to follow them. Instead, I found myself behind Márquez and Miller and, even though I was a bit faster, overtaking them was not easy. I knew that sooner or later they would make some small mistake. It was a long race, so I waited. I took good advantage of the opportunity because when it happened I managed to get past Márquez too, who had also made a small mistake. Once I was ahead of them, I was able to be extremely fast, with times in the low 1’38” range for the final laps, but by then it was too late to catch the first two. It probably wouldn’t have been enough to win, but it’s a great pace at the end of the race! The bike worked fantastically. We just need to improve the start which is still somewhat of our weak point. I’m extremely happy. I’m just 7 points behind Quartararo who is leading the championship. It’s like living in a dream. Plus, it’s great to have finished on the podium at this circuit which I really like a lot and with such a big crowd. I’ll never forget the emotions I felt on the honour lap.”

Marc Marquez – P4

“Today I gave my maximum and achieved the maximum. I saved my energy through the whole weekend to be ready for Sunday because I’m still not in the condition to do a whole weekend at 100%. It’s the Spanish GP, I had to give it everything on race day. At one point in the race, I thought maybe the podium was possible, the key point was overtaking Miller and stopping Aleix because he was faster than us. This is what I tried to do but then at the last corner I lost the front and the rear but fortunately the Spanish crowd were there to pick me up and save the crash! We don’t give up; we keep pushing and now we prepare for an important Monday test.”

Jack Miller – P5

“Today felt like a big long fight. I’m happy enough, I felt I rode pretty well, but finishing fifth when you’ve been third for a lot of the race is a bit of a shame. But, saying that, I was pretty happy with the performance. Doing nearly 22 laps with ‘+0 Marquez’ on your pit board is a pretty stressful deal, that’s for certain!

“I stuck with Pecco (Bagnaia) and Fabio (Quartararo) for the first four laps, but by lap five those guys went up another gear and I wasn’t able to hang with that pace. I have to say a massive congratulations to Pecco, because he rode a fantastic race. Anyway, I tried my best to ride my own race, because it was what was behind me from that point that I needed to think about. Marc (Marquez) was right there, and you just know there’s an attack coming. Aleix (Espargaro) was right behind him too. One of us had to finish third of that three, unfortunately it was me. I gave it my maximum, but of course you want more.

“I was suffering quite a lot even from the beginning of the race at Turn 5, I had to use an unconventional line there to get around the corner and Marc eventually passed me there with five laps to go. I could hear on the right-hand corners that he was reeling me in, I was suffering a lot on the right-hand side of the front tyre. Once Marc passed, I could see he was having the same issues as me… then he had his moment in the last corner, nearly came off, and then it was on with two laps to go. I tried to push and go with Aleix after he passed me and Marc but I had a moment at Turn 6, one at 9 and one at 11 on the next lap and I thought ‘hang on, keep it steady, keep it safe’. Marc hit me with a dive-bomb on the last lap at Turn 8 and I didn’t think he was going to get it done, but it was fine.

“I wish I could have been fighting for the podium at the end, but that’s three races in a row now that we’ve been in the mix for the podium with here, Portimao and Texas. My bike has been good three weeks in a row now, so that’s a positive I can take out of today. MotoGP is just so competitive at the moment… 11 of us have been on the podium now and there’s some guys who haven’t that you know will be at some stage this year. Besides some of the rookies, I think everybody has a chance. That’s the way it is now in MotoGP. The guys that are in the top 16-17-18 have a big chance. You just have to keep pushing because the margins are so fine.

“I’ve always had some good memories from here at Jerez, last year’s win of course being the top one. Still even to this day it was probably the most amazing day of my career, one that I’ll always remember because it had been so long since Assen (2016) and the win I had there. Jerez has always been a special place for me, it brings back memories. When I first moved over to Europe my parents and me lived in a motorhome for the first year and I didn’t have much seat time, so after a couple of rounds of the Spanish championship we came here and basically parked up on the beach in Cadiz and stayed down here for a month or more. We were just going back and forth to the track, me doing some riding and then having a pretty nice life there, did some training on the nice long beaches in the good weather like it always is. I think about those days every time I come here.

“Anyway, my weekend isn’t over yet. We’ve got a test here on Monday where we can try to understand a little bit more the feeling on the front end of the bike, and I think we’ll be good heading into Le Mans in a couple of weeks. Le Mans is a place I love and the weather is always unpredictable, but I’m confident we can put on a good performance there rain, hail or shine”

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Joan Mir – P6

“Honestly, the temperature was higher in the race than it had been during the rest of the weekend and that caused me a lot of trouble with the front. I was trying hard to get closer to the other riders but I was going wide and it messed up my consistency – sometimes I would have a ‘clean’ lap and other times I would run out wide because of the front feeling in the heat. But, you know, we have to think of today as providing us with useful information ahead of other hot races. After last week’s DNF it was nice to score some points, at least.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P7

“I’m happy to finally be back in parc ferme, it’s so important for the team and myself. We’ve made a step forward, even though I was looking for a slightly better result, maybe top four or top five, but we finished P7. I’m happy, I gave my best from the beginning and it was a really tough race. I’m looking forward to testing tomorrow and it will be important to improve the bike.”

Enea Bastianini – P8

“I can’t say I’m happy with my eighth-place finish… but all things considered, we did the best we could. We managed to score some valuable points at the end of a weekend in which we struggled to find the feeling with the bike I was hoping for, and therefore tomorrow’s test couldn’t have come at a better time. I would like to leave Jerez with clearer ideas and be back riding the way I did at each event prior to this one.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P9

“I am very happy, I managed to stay in the group of the top guys and I am happy for the whole Team. They did a great job and Ducati is also supporting us at 100%. We started strong already from Friday, we didn’t give up and today we had a great race. A shame for the overtaking of Enea (Bastianini) in the very last lap, but we have to bring home all the positive things. In Portimao I have struggled, the weather change on Sunday did not help me, while here we were constant in all the sessions. Let’s continue like this and do our best on tomorrow’s test day as well.”

Brad Binder – P10

“A really difficult weekend for all of us. This is a track I really love but we weren’t able to have the race we wanted. I had a big vibration come from the rear wheel so I did my best to get as many points as possible but this problem made it hard to fight with the guys. It upset the bike on corner entry and made it hard to stop. I’m frustrated because we expected more but today wasn’t the day.”

Pol Espargaro – P11

“The grip was really low today with the temperature and in conditions like this I suffer a lot more, more than my teammate and more than other riders. In the first lap I almost high sided at Turn 5 and I lost some positions, but to recover in MotoGP is really difficult. Fortunately, we have a test tomorrow and we need to get to work to return to what we found during winter. We have to work from the moment we are in and find solutions to the problems we are having. Patience is key here, the good times will come but we need to keep our heads down and work.”

Miguel Oliveira – P12

“We cannot say we are happy with the result but coming from the back of the grid it was what we could achieve. I had rear tire vibration and have to work out how that happened. We scored some points, so that’s something and we have a working day ahead of us tomorrow to try and improve the bike further.”

Álex Márquez – P13

“It was a difficult race coming right from the back, but we made a good start on the outside of the track. Later on, I tried to recover positions and gave 100 percent and towards the finish I did better and better. I’m happy with the step we made today, we made a mistake yesterday with the set-up and we need to focus on that. But it was a positive weekend and now we have an important test, so we’ll focus and try to keep going like we did today in the race.”

Maverick Vinales – P14

“At the start, the front fork locking device didn’t engage, so the front end of the bike lifted a lot and I lost several positions. But these things can happen and I don’t want to make excuses. Being unable to be fast on the flying lap during qualifying penalised us and that complicates things in the race because when you start from behind, you’re forced to push hard straight away, so the tyres heat up and your pace suffers. Our bike is working well but we’ll try some different changes to the settings in the tests tomorrow to improve my feeling in qualifying conditions too. There is still work to be done, but we won’t give up!”

Franco Morbidelli – P15

“When you start from far behind, and it’s difficult to overtake like it is for us, the front pressure goes sky-high and you can’t ride anymore. Basically, I couldn’t push all race long. I could only push when I overtook Luca, three laps before the end. Actually, the lap times weren’t so bad towards the end. But starting from far behind things are like this. We will work to refine everything and make another step in tomorrow’s test, and then we will see in Le Mans.”

Luca Marini – P16

“I’m obviously disappointed with the race, but I didn’t expect a very different result after the free practices and qualifying. The positive is that I managed to be consistent throughout all the laps, even though the pace was two, three tenths slower than our opponents. We made some changes in the warm up and I felt good in riding. Tomorrow there will be a day of testing: it is the right time to make an important step forward.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P17

“I didn’t expect a good race, to be honest. I didn’t have strong front grip and I saw all the other riders around me struggling with that. It was very strange that nobody at all from the first lap straight braking in the middle of the corner and it was very difficult. It happened already in the past in Jerez, sometimes it is like this in the race. It’s very strange, but when you see the lap times from the front group you are a bit surprised because without the grip, this was impossible. It’s pretty bad, I expected to be able to push, but I couldn’t from the first lap. So, I just tried to survive and finish the race somehow.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P18

“It was a positive race after all. Unfortunately I lost some positions at the start, but we surely made a step forward in terms of gap to the front. The group battling for points was not far, but we still have to improve. We managed during the weekend to get better with the rear-end, and tomorrow we will focus on the behaviour of the bike under braking.”

Alex Rins – P19

“I suffered quite a lot at the start, and I had riders all around me. On the first two corners I had some close calls with other riders and I had to be careful. Then when I settled into the race I didn’t feel much stability on the front. At Turn 11 I had a fast run-off after losing the front, and I’m glad I saved it, but I just didn’t have a good feeling so I couldn’t gain enough places following that. I feel disappointed because I wanted to have a nice race here in Spain, but let’s move onwards and upwards.”

Remy Gardner – P20

“Today I lost my left front wing on the first lap, so I struggled the entire race to ride. It had a big effect and I was wheeling all the time. I was unable to go full gas on the straights so I did not have much fun today. You realize how much downforce these wings create when you are riding with only one because you get dragged by one side of the bike and it is really tough to control. I knew we would struggle a bit today, but I am sure that we could have done a much better race with two wings. Anyway, I hope that tomorrow we will be able to test a few new things to make some improvements on the bike.”

Lorenzo Savadori – P21

“I’m rather pleased with my race. I had a problem at the race start that caused me to lose ground, but we know that can happen with a ‘laboratory’ bike. These tests are part of my role and it was important to be able to conduct them in the race. I’m extremely happy for Aprilia and for Aleix, who is doing really well. We’re all working hard, but we certainly won’t stop here. We’ll continue testing other things tomorrow in the post-race tests.”

Jorge Martín – P22

“It’s a difficult moment and there are not many things to say. Unfortunately this is what racing is all about. Tomorrow I’ll be back on track and I’ll start from scratch giving my best together with my team.”

Johann Zarco – DNF

“Not the result I was hoping for, I’m very sorry because after Portugal I was coming with good feelings, but here we were always missing something all weekend. The pace wasn’t very fast and at a certain point I lost the front and i crashed.”

Stefan Bradl – DNF

“It’s a shame to be unable to finish the race because our pace, even after the first fall, was not too bad. Conditions were much warmer today and maybe this contributed to our situation a bit. We’ve worked well throughout the whole weekend and done some interesting work. Now we focus on the Monday test and seeing how we can best help HRC.”

Darryn Binder – DNF

“I’m super disappointed that I crashed. Honestly, I’m still more happy with this race than Portimao. I’d rather crash out of fighting amongst the other guys than riding around last. At least in this race in the first laps, I was able to fight with the other guys and I felt like I was faster. I managed to make a nice pass on Marini at turn nine and was just behind Morbidelli and I think I got a little bit too excited. Going into turn two, I didn’t do anything too crazy, I had a little movement in the rear and the front closed. I wish I could have hung around a couple more laps and follow Morbidelli, but it is what it is. The grip was quite low today even in Warm Up, I felt I was doing a good job to getting the power down, I passed quite a lot of guys in the first laps already and I was feeling really strong. Overall, I feel like I know exactly what I need to work on. I’m really excited for tomorrow to try all sort of things and focus on these points and try to improve in that direction.”

Team Managers

Luigi Dall’Igna – General Manager of Ducati Corse

“Pecco did an incredible race, and this victory definitely has several meanings. After yesterday’s amazing qualifying, it was important to do well again today. I’m sure he could have done well in Portugal too, but it was great to see him on form and fight for the win again. We are delighted because today, we were finally able to show the true potential of our bike. Jack also had a good race, and until five laps from the end, he was fighting for the podium. Congratulations again to Pecco, and thanks to all the Ducati Corse staff for their work!”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“The aim today was to score as many points as possible today. This was a track we thought we had a good chance to do a good race, though we did already figure it would be a difficult one to win. We got the job done. These 20 points for Fabio are important. He did try to win, and came close, but there came a point in the race that he understood he had to give the situation some consideration. I think he can be happy with this second place, and especially with the pace he showed today. Franky finally found something this morning that he likes and feels comfortable with on the bike. The feeling he had this morning was good. I would like to say that I think that because of this new setting his season will really start in two weeks‘ time in Le Mans. It‘s a shame that it came too late for this weekend. Starting from the sixth row was difficult. It made the tyre pressure go up, making it very difficult to ride, but he managed. He did what he could, knowing he could have done a completely different race. This is a positive sign, so we are looking forward to Le Mans with increased confidence, and we also have tomorrow‘s test to get some extra work done.”

Livio Suppo – Suzuki Team Manager

“We can’t really be happy with our results today. We started the weekend at a totally different level to how we’ve finished it – we felt that both riders had the pace to fight for the podium. Joan did get close to it, and of course the points he got are useful so it was pretty positive, but he wasn’t quite in the fight. Alex made a mistake and after that it was too tough for him to come back into the points, so he’s very disappointed. We need to work hard in tomorrow’s test to keep our championship hopes on track.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“At the start of the weekend, on Friday, it seemed we could have a nice race here. But overall, it has been a very difficult weekend for us. We expected more in terms of race pace, but in the end it wasn’t what we thought. Joan tried to push for the podium, but he was too far back. Alex also couldn’t gain enough positions and the run-off made it impossible for him to recover. We’ll use tomorrow’s test to try and boost our feelings and performance ahead of the next GP in France.”

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager

“A strange weekend. Things went well on Friday but we missed Q2 and from that point things were more difficult from the back half of the grid. It is possible to recover some position but not enough to be where we want to be at the end of the race. We also have to investigate the rear tire vibration. We had one top ten and we want more; we are not here for that. Tomorrow we have some interesting things ahead. I feel that we are not too far away.”

Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 KTM Team Manager

“It was a really tough weekend for the Tech3 KTM Factory Racing Team here in Jerez. After the qualifying, we knew that it was going to be a tough and long race for us, although you always hope for the race to be a different story. Unfortunately, it was not. I would like to thank Remy for his efforts. He did not give up when he lost his left wing which caused instability on his bike, but he kept pushing until the checkered flag. We gathered important information to understand where we and ourselves need to work in order to improve.

“Tomorrow, we have a test day here in Jerez and we have a few things and different settings to work on to give Remy what he deserves, which is a more effective package. We hope that he will be able to be closer to the other guys from the next round in Le Mans, the team’s home Grand Prix.

“I am really sad to have Raul Fernandez in the box and not on his bike for the second Grand Prix in a row. He has been great, kept positive all weekend along, attended media activities, briefings, spent time with his team, and all the sessions on the safety road trying to learn from his rivals. He will not be testing tomorrow as he is still unfit, but I am quite sure that he will be back with us in Le Mans. I really hope that both Remy and himself will be competitive for our home Grand Prix in two weeks.”

Pablo Nieto – Mooney VR46 Racing Team

“A great race for Marco, his second Top 10 as a rookie. I am very happy for him and his whole Team: they did a great job and managed to being consistent and fast throughout the GP. A real pity for Luca, he lost the points in the final stages of the race. We need to stay focused on the data and work for making the most of tomorrow’s test day as well: I know he can reach the top ten in the next races.”

Razlan Razali – Team Principal WithU Yamaha RNF

“It was another difficult weekend for both our riders. Unfortunately, we did not score any points this weekend. It was a hard weekend to start with, both riders struggled to find their rhythm with both their Yamaha YZR-M1. However, during the race we were happy that Darryn was fighting and managed to position himself as high as 17th before he crashed just behind Franco (Morbidelli) and did his fasted laps of high 38s. In a way, we are happy of what he has done although we obviously would like him to finish but he has learnt and understands the M1 better, which he will follow through to the test tomorrow. With Andrea, he did not have a good start. He was practically in the last positions but made a comeback to as high as 17th. Again, he’s still not comfortable with his riding style on the M1. But he has the opportunity to relook at his style during the test tomorrow.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager WithU Yamaha RNF

“Jerez, has finally been a very hot race. I think Darryn did a good job, after the start he was able to catch up with a lot of boys and getting to speed. He missed a little bit of rhythm in the practices but he was able to find it in the race, especially on the throttle and the behaviour of how he should be riding the bike, he got that message in the race. But of course he was a bit too enthusiastic as soon as he passed Marini. But anyway, this is a learning curve as we know. For Andrea, he struggled big time with the grip of the front tyre. We don’t know really if the others were having less or more issues, but for him it was a restriction. He lost the front a couple of times, he nearly crashed and he couldn’t find the rhythm that he need to do to get into the points. Tomorrow is the test and we will see if we can improve the package, both boys still need to find the right rhythm to ride the bike the best possible way.”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin Two-Wheel Motorsport Manager

“This weekend was much more stable from a weather point of view compared to last week, so this allowed the teams to work properly on dry set-up, and this was reflected in the very fast and close lap times we saw – culminating in both a new race lap record and the impressive new all-time circuit lap record by Pecco. The performance of the tyres throughout the race was also very good, with consistently fast lap times that contributed to a great race and a new race duration record, more than five seconds faster than the previous record, in front of the incredibly passionate fans here in Jerez.

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