MotoGP Rider Quotes and Images
MotoGP 2017 – Round 11 – Red Bull Ring
Andrea Dovizioso – P1
“It was a crazy race, but to be honest the whole weekend was incredible, and in particular the final curve of the last lap, but I managed to remain clear headed and was aware that Marquez was going to try and pass me. It was a very difficult situation because if Marc had closed the door coming out of the corner, he would have forced me out and passed me. Instead I was able to resist his attack and I went on to win! I’m very satisfied with the way we managed the entire weekend with my team: understanding the right choice of tyres was really difficult but we did it. We had a great race, we’re making up points in the championship, and we’ve got all the right cards to fight for the title.”
Marc Marquez – P2
“I wouldn’t have slept well tonight if I didn’t try to go for the win in the last corner! But it wasn’t possible. Today Dovi had just a little bit more than us and it was difficult to overtake him. I tried my best all race, really gave it my all, and I lost the rear many times. It was a great battle, and Dovi deserved this victory as he rode very well. We got this second place and it’s good. I’m very happy with these 20 points at this track where I had struggled a lot last year. It’s an important result for the Championship. We’re working well; step-by-step, we found a good base that allowed us to be there, and to be consistent in every situation. Today I was able to try that move at the end because I was feeling good with the bike. It will be important to continue like this and to try and be on the podium at every race.”
Dani Pedrosa – P3
“I’m very, very happy with how this weekend turned out and with this podium finish, as we had struggled a lot in the practices, had to go through Q1, and finally qualified just eighth on the grid. But it turned out in the race that I was faster than we were expecting. I still had some issues with the front locking and the rear spinning, but our race strategy worked very well. I wasn’t too aggressive in the beginning; I took my time with a full tank, saving some fuel, and then step-by-step I increased my pace until I closed the gap to the front of the race, also because Marc and Dovi were battling and disturbing each other. Unfortunately, when I caught them I had so much spinning that the rear tyre overheated and I had no more grip and drive. I wanted to stay with them and try to fight with them but even though I couldn’t, I’m happy with this podium and proud of my team and of the work we did here.”
Jorge Lorenzo – P4
“I think that this was my best race of the year: I started from the front row, I led the race for 11 laps, and I finished the GP just over six seconds down on the winner. This time we were a bit lacking in power, because from the third lap onwards I had to change the mapping to keep the fuel consumption under control, and above all I was losing a lot on the straights to my rivals. The rear tyre also deteriorated on the right side and I was unable to keep touch with the leading group. Things are going better at every race, I’m riding more convincingly and I’m able to get more out of my bike. We’re missing very little, just a couple of tenths, to be able to fight for the win and so we must be satisfied. Congratulations to Andrea, because he deserved to win what was a very difficult race.”
Johann Zarco – P5
“It was a good Sunday and I’m very happy with what we achieved. This morning, the warm up was difficult for me and I was a bit worried about how things would be in the race. Yet, this afternoon, the temperature was high and it was the warmest that it has been throughout the weekend and so the soft compound was the best tyre option. However, it had a great feeling but we were still a bit unsure about what would happen in the GP. Anyway, I am pleased about the start and I was able to fight in the first lap. Then I felt really strong after the fifth lap but it was too tricky to overtake. When I claimed 5th position, the tyres dropped a bit so I tried to manage it. I wanted to catch Lorenzo in 4th however, it was not possible today, and at the same time, I wanted to keep hold of 5th because Viñales was behind me and he was pushing. In the end, it was a perfect finish and I am so happy to be back in the top five. This result is great for the championship as well as my confidence and battling with the leading guys is very exciting.”
Maverick Viñales – P6
“I suffered from a big drop in grip of the rear tyre for almost the entire race. When I went wide as I was fighting with Valentino, I just tried to calm down, make the tyre work until the end, but it was totally impossible. Not only with other manufacturers, but also with Zarco, it was really difficult to keep following them. We have to work really hard if we want to fight for this championship. I like Silverstone a lot, it is one of the best tracks on the calendar. I always like going there, I really like the lay-out. I will go for the best result possible, trying to be on top.”
Valentino Rossi – P7
“Today the problems started after ten or twelve laps. Unfortunately, we stressed the rear tyre too much, so the rear tyre dropped a lot and we lost a lot of performance and speed. From that moment on it was very difficult to control the bike and I also made a mistake on the brakes. I didn‘t have the pace in the second half of the race, I suffered too much from a lack of grip. It‘s a shame because we worked a lot, but it looks like it’s the same problem as we had in Jerez and Barcelona. When we use the rear tyre too much, the bike becomes slower and more difficult to ride in the second half of the race. For sure we have to work a lot mechanically and also on the electronics to improve this problem.”
Alvaro Bautista – P8
“I think this is a good result for us, after a weekend when we had a lot of problems with rear grip. We have changed the bike quite a lot but we didn’t find a solution and we went back to the set-up from Friday. In any case, starting from so far back was difficult. I was careful at the start and as the laps went by I was able to recover. I was setting the same times as the second group, or even faster, but by then it was impossible to catch them.”
Loris Baz – P9
“I’m very happy with my race. It was difficult to choose the tyres before the start, because with the rise of temperature we didn’t know how the soft front would work in the race. I had a decent start, but I lost concentration a little bit when I saw Petrucci moving on the grid. The first lap was good and I was able to pass some riders. I lost too much time trying to overtake Iannone, but then I kept a good rhythm and I managed the gap with the riders behind me really well. Then Alvaro arrived and he was faster and I lost eighth place. But I defended my position from Mika’s attack on the last few laps and I’m happy for that. I think this was my best race in MotoGP, nobody crashed in the front and I finished less than 20 seconds behind the winner. My team did a great job over the weekend and this it the best way to celebrate my Dad’s birthday.”
Mika Kallio – P10
“That was a super, super race, something that was the absolute maximum that we could do from our side as I thought before the race I have a realistic chance to get some points. I managed to make a great start and got some places early on in the first corners. I could stay with guys around me giving me more boost to push and push even though this track looks on paper not so difficult it is very hard physically, particularly on the brakes and that makes a difference as I haven’t raced so much recently so if I’m racing more often I could be even closer. Today was however one of the best races I’ve done in MotoGP as when you look at the gap, this was the closest I’ve ever been to the winner in MotoGP at just 19.7 seconds back, so after 28 laps this is a huge step forward for the KTM MotoGP project and I’m very proud to be part of it.”
Andrea Iannone – P11
“To me this weekend has been positive, despite the final position not being satisfactory. We made some improvements and we lowered the gap. At many moments of the weekend we were close to the competitiveness that we would like to have. We know we struggle more in the race. We suffer with the drop in tyre performance, but we are working on that and I see positive feedback from Suzuki. The solution is achievable but not as immediate as we’d like, so we have to put up with it and keep on. I can see that I am not the only one in this and they all are making an effort to try to improve. This is something I really appreciate and I will do my best to give them what they deserve. We need to be patient, but in these last two races we learned so much; this will be useful. Here in Austria we suffered a lot with the tyre drop, maybe with the electronics we can solve the problem, and also with some improvements in the chassis or setup. At the same time we improved the braking considerably, which was a crucial point for me. This means that little by little we are getting there.”
Aleix Espargaro – P13
“I suffered a lot, especially at the beginning when I found myself basically in last place. We struggled in acceleration from low speed, so I had to make up ground in the braking sections. After a few laps I began to feel better, overtaking a lot of riders and setting a good pace. I am not satisfied with my final position. We have the potential to finish much farther forward, but I think that the real problem was yesterday’s qualifiers. Starting twentieth on a track like this one makes everything more difficult. We earned points, which is obviously not our goal, but an unlucky race can happen along the way as we grow.”
Karel Abraham – P14
“The whole weekend went well, almost too well! The start of the race was not bad but there was some contact between some riders in front of me and I had to avoid them so I lost several positions. I tried to recover, focus and catch Iannone and Kallio, after Bautista passed me. Unfortunately during the race I was getting a lot of siding from the rear tyre, and for the final eight or ten laps it was hard to stay on the bike. Redding and Espargaró were able to pass me easily around the outside on the final lap because I could not push any harder. The tyre was already on the carcass. It is a shame because I could have been fighting close to the top ten. We have made huge progress over the weekend, with consistent lap times, and I am happy to have finished because the last couple of laps were tough. Another two laps and I wouldn’t have made it. I want to thank the whole team for their help – two points are good for us but I feel bad because I know it could have been more.”
Cal Crutchlow – P15
“I think it (the hard front tyre) was the right choice for me, even though we had some problems throughout the race, but 15th was a disappointing result. I rode through the pit lane last year, for a jump start, and still finished with more points. We didn’t find a great setting all weekend and the problem was I lost 12 seconds in six laps and that was it really. I got run off the track three times and got hindered at the start. Once I was riding alone at the end of the race I felt really good, I had good pace, but we had a problem up until lap 18 as well which didn’t help. But no excuses, I didn’t ride great all weekend either, but I could have finished in the top eight today I felt. My aim was to finish in the top six, but I was nine places off that so we’ll just have to look forward to the next one and try our best again. I look forward to Silverstone now, it’s always great to go home and especially after two frustrating races.”
Alex Rins – P16
“It’s been a complicated race. The start went well, but then I was in the middle of a group in which I lost some positions. When I started to recover, one rider hit me and I went off the track. While making up the distance I think I was pushing too much and I was not able to keep the tyre as I would have liked. I was able to overtake a few places and finish the race. That, under the circumstances, was the main objective. At this track we have suffered a little more than we expected, but to sum up, I am satisfied with the steps that we have taken even though the result is not what we expected at the beginning of the weekend.”
Hector Barbera – P17
“The rider who was in front of me got stuck at the start and I was forced to move to the left, but Pol came faster from the back and we had a big contact. We were lucky not to crash. Then I saw that he had to retire, I don’t know if it was because of the incident and if it was because of that, I want to say sorry. Then I was able to recover, I had a good battle with Miller and Redding, but after seven laps my rear tyre dropped and I struggled a lot with spinning. We don’t know why we had this problem, maybe it was because of the higher temperature that affected the tyre performance. But we didn’t have any problem during the weekend and it was strange”.
Bradley Smith – P18
“This has certainly been a busy race and one that I won’t forget in terms of the huge support from the orange family. It was very cool to see the KTM Grandstand packed full of 8,200 people on the warm up lap was pretty cool, I’m not going to lie. The race didn’t didn’t quite turn out how I necessarily thought it would as I made a good start and was hanging in there holding low 1m 25s like I did in warm up but the warmer weather took its toll and however much I changed my style I couldn’t quite hold onto that pace. I was pleased as I was holding off some good guys but I had a big moment at turn 9 and ran off the track and then I had to get it home.To see KTM get another top ten was great.”
Tito Rabat – P19
“I am disappointed because even though I knew it would be difficult to get points in the race that was my target. On the first lap I tried to go around Pol Espargaro but he went long because he had no brakes so I lost time and distance to the group and then rode alone to the finish. Now it is important to keep our heads up in this difficult moment and focus on the remaining races.”
Sam Lowes – P20
“The first part of the race was the best since I’ve been with Aprilia. Both in terms of position and in terms of pace, I was not far behind my teammate and I was making up ground. Unfortunately, we made the wrong rear tyre choice. I felt good at the start with the soft, but then the grip faded and I basically had to manage the last 12 laps just to make it to the chequered flag. It’s too bad about the result, but for us this is the umpteenth important lesson on managing the weekend. Now I am thinking about my home race at Silverstone, where I will be highly motivated.”
Jack Miller – Not Classified
“The race was going really well when I crashed on lap 20. I had really good pace early in the race but then I started to lose some rear grip, it felt like the tyre was overheating in the final sector, I had couple of warnings that I was losing grip into turn nine. Then it stepped out under braking and then overloaded the front and I tried to hold it up on my elbow but to no avail. A disappointing end but I had a strong race until that small mistake. Now I’m looking forward to Silverstone and being in top form.”
Jonas Folger – Not Classified
“I have to admit that it was a really hard weekend for us and there were many ups and downs. We tried a new chassis but we were unsure if it was better or not at this circuit, and I think in the end I was not getting confident with the track. However, I felt good in the warm up, even if my position was quite low because I was using old tyres. Plus, my qualifying performance was not so bad if we look at the lap time. Therefore, I was feeling confident for the race, but then we experienced a technical issue and I had to retire. This is a shame because I think that we could have done a great job and taken some valuable championship points. Now, we have to analyse what happened so that it won’t occur again.”
Pol Espargaro – Not Classified
“I’m so disappointed for what has happened today as we just had simple bad luck. We had the opportunity to show the world what KTM is doing with this great project after 7th in the warm up this morning. I had the speed and pace but a sensor on the rear brake wasn’t working so I had no rear brake from the first lap. Such a shame as it’s out biggest race in front of this huge crowd but now we have a test in Misano and then Silverstone for the next MotoGP.”
MotoGP Race Results Top 10
- Andrea DOVIZIOSO / ITA / Ducati Team 39’43.323
- Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team +0.176
- Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team +2.661
- Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Ducati Team +6.663
- Johann ZARCO / FRA / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +7.262
- Maverick VIÑALES / SPA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +7.447
- Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +8.995
- Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Pull&Bear Aspar Team +14.515
- Loris BAZ / FRA / Reale Avintia Racing +19.620
- Mika KALLIO / FIN / Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +19.766
…DNF. Jack MILLER
MotoGP 2017 – Round 11 – Austria – MotoGP Championship Standings
- Marc MARQUEZ / Honda / SPA 174
- Andrea DOVIZIOSO / Ducati / ITA 158
- Maverick VIÑALES / Yamaha / SPA 150
- Valentino ROSSI / Yamaha / ITA 141
- Dani PEDROSA / Honda / SPA 139
- Johann ZARCO / Yamaha / FRA 99
- Jorge LORENZO / Ducati / SPA 79
- Jonas FOLGER / Yamaha / GER 77
- Cal CRUTCHLOW / Honda / GBR 76
- Danilo PETRUCCI / Ducati / ITA 75
- Alvaro BAUTISTA / Ducati / SPA 52
- Aleix ESPARGARO / Aprilia / SPA 43
- Jack MILLER / Honda / AUS 43
- Loris BAZ / Ducati / FRA 38
- Scott REDDING / Ducati / GBR 37
- Andrea IANNONE / Suzuki / ITA 33
- Karel ABRAHAM / Ducati / CZE 25
- Tito RABAT / Honda / SPA 23
- Pol ESPARGARO / KTM / SPA 21
- Hector BARBERA / Ducati / SPA 21
- Alex RINS / Suzuki / SPA 12
- Bradley SMITH / KTM / GBR 8
- Michele PIRRO / Ducati / ITA 7
- Mika KALLIO / KTM / FIN 6
- Sam LOWES / Aprilia / GBR 2
- Sylvain GUINTOLI / Suzuki / FRA 1
