Riders reflect on opening day of practice in Germany

MotoGP 2022 – Round Ten
Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland

Friday Quotes

Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“It was a very positive day, and I think this was our best Friday since the start of this season. After this first day, I don’t want to make any setup changes; I just want to focus on improving my race pace. The time attack also went well, and I had fun doing it. Tomorrow the conditions will be different: the temperatures will be higher, and the FP4 session will be fundamental to understand what kind of pace we can have in the race in the heat.”

Luca Marini – P2

“A good first day for all the Ducati: we worked well with the Team, it was important to quickly understand how to use the tires here and that’s where we can make a step forward. With the hard I wasn’t as fast as Pecco and I have really struggled with so little grip to get the bike turning, an aspect where we have to work on. In any case, the problem is clear and we will return on it in FP4. For now the goal is to achieve the direct access into the Q2 in FP3, the key for managing the QP. We will then analyse the data: this afternoon everyone with the heat have struggled a bit more and we have to compare the data to gain something in speed. I’m happy with this Friday.”

Jack Miller – P3

“During the Barcelona test, we could make some big steps forward. We changed my riding position a lot, which is now closer to that of the other Ducati riders, and this increased my feeling with the front, allowing me to ride differently and exploit the full potential of my bike. Sachsenring is a very narrow track, and on paper, it’s not one of the most favourable for the Desmosedici GP, but today I felt comfortable right away. The temperatures could be higher tomorrow and Sunday, but I’m confident I can do well anyway”.

Aleix Espargaro – P4

“As for how things went today, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have the race straight away and then head off on holiday! All joking aside, we did good work today. Tyre choice and management seem to be particularly important here and, from this point of view, I was able to be fast on the hard rear. I made a few mistakes on the time attack but, despite this, I did three laps at  20.2 and that’s not at all bad. We can improve further but I can consider myself satisfied with this start.”

Fabio Quartararo – P7

“I feel good, but we‘re still missing some performance. I mean, our pace is not too bad, but in the first laps on a new hard tyre I was pretty slow compared to the others, and we need to find a solution to find that 0.4s-0.5s that we‘re missing. When I go out on a new hard tyre, it feels like a used tyre, so that‘s something we need to improve. The feeling is kind of similar to Barcelona. Let‘s see who will and who won‘t improve when the temperatures go up further later this weekend. I don‘t think it will be a big issue for us.”

Maverick Vinales – P8

“I’m pleased above all with the information we were able to gather today. We have already identified a couple of points where we need to improve. I need a bit more stability. I had a good pace on the medium tyre but here, as always, shooting for a qualifying position on the front two rows will be fundamental. The race will be significantly conditioned by this.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P9

“We start back from Barcelona: we made very little changes to the bike and we had a good feeling, which is very, very positive. Let’s say we’re on the right track: we’re still missing something on the front-end, especially with regards to some corners like turn three, but we have some changes in mind to make a further step forward tomorrow. The goal is to be in Q2 here as well.”

Joan Mir – P10

“I feel good, we’re making steps forward and working hard, and this makes me happy. We’re getting there, slowly but surely – we’re still not quite where we want to be but we’re not far off it either. I’m keen to see what we can do tomorrow! We’ll try to improve and qualify well so that we can set ourselves on a good path for the race.”

Alex Rins – P11

“My wrist was a bit more painful than I expected. I suffered with it a bit in FP1, but I was hoping that for FP2 it would feel a bit freer and less painful, but it was actually the opposite; it was more uncomfortable in the afternoon. It could be that the high temperatures are making it feel worse, or just the fact that I was pushing for a fast time. We’ll see how I feel after resting tonight, and together with Livio and all the team we will make a decision following FP3 tomorrow.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P12

“It was a positive first day here in Sachsenring. We made a quite a big step this afternoon and our race pace is already good. We need to improve and work on our qualifying lap, because this afternoon at the end of FP2, the first time we tried the soft compound on the rear I had a lot of grip. So, we need to improve the setting on the bike and electronics in many areas. I am good, even though my physical condition is not the best, I am looking forward to riding tomorrow.” 

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Enea Bastianini – P13

“We struggled a bit, and last year here hadn’t been easy, either. We know where we have to focus on in order to be competitive and I’m confident tomorrow we’ll be part of the game. We’re still missing something in sectors two and three. From turn six to turn eight I don’t feel well, I have a lack of feeling with the front-end and that means cornering is also affected.”

Pol Espargaro – P14

“Today was a tough day. The first crash wasn’t bad but the second one really caught me by surprise and I came down quite hard. My wrist and elbow hurt a bit but the biggest pain at the moment is on my left ribs. It’s hard to take a deep breath and especially with all the left corners here, it’s quite painful. We need to rest tonight and take some anti-inflammatories. Even like this we were able to be faster than last year, but the pace is really high this weekend and we will have to work tomorrow for QP2. Today I was the limit, there’s still some margin inside of me.”

Franco Morbidelli – P15

“So, there are some things to improve with the race tyres, but the feeling and the pace weren’t bad at all. For sure, to get to the top guys‘ pace we need at least 0.3s-0.4s. But the biggest problem is that I can’t improve on a new tyre like others can. Others seem to be able to improve by 1s. I’m not on that level. We are working on understanding the new tyres better to improve on them like we should.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P16

“A first day that was not easy but not too complicated. I’m quite happy, I made a nice step forward between the two sessions and honestly I expected to struggle with the grip conditions. We need to go back to the data and work on this to be able to get closer to the Q2 tomorrow.”

Álex Márquez – P18

“First day here in Germany, it was quite good in the morning. We had a good feeling, tried some new things and felt good about the pace. In the afternoon we tried the hard rear, but it wasn’t a fantastic tyre for us, we were struggling a lot and there was no grip overall. We put the medium on for one lap before the soft and immediately the rhythm, the lap time and everything was much better, so that’s something we need to adjust and understand. Later on with the soft I was feeling good, but I had margin to improve, so tomorrow we should keep improving the bike and we’ll try hard to be in Q2. We’ll give our best as always.”

Darryn Binder – P19

“It’s been a good day, a good start to the weekend here in Sachsenring. I struggled a little bit this morning in FP1 to learn the Sachsenring Circuit on the MotoGP bike, but towards the end of FP1, I started to find my feet. In FP2, I feel like I made a couple of good steps forward. To finish the day just one second off the top is pretty decent. I’m quite happy with that. I know where to work on tomorrow and I hope we keep improving.”

Stefan Bradl – P20

“I am happy after today because we were able to make a good step. In Free Practice 1 we struggled a bit and then in the afternoon we improved. I am happy with the performance because not just the bike made a step, but I also did with my riding. There is still some parts to improve, especially about the timing of runs and my confidence when going for a fast lap. This will come with time and this is where we will find those last tenths we are missing. The goal for tomorrow is to improve again with the soft rear, I want to lap in a 1’20 – that’s the objective.”

Remy Gardner – P22

“I expected a bit more from today to be honest but it has not been a bad day overall. We are close to the factory riders, which is important. We will see what we can do tomorrow and hopefully improve a bit.” 

Andrea Dovizioso – P23

“Today I did a different strategy than the other riders, as I stayed out with the used tyre until the end, so I didn’t do a single fast lap time in the afternoon. I don’t have the reference with the soft tyre yet, but with the hard tyre, the grip is very low. I’m not that fast, but I think, the base is better than some of the other races and after the practices of today, it’s clear, that we have to ride in a different way, because you can’t push at the beginning of the race and do 22.5s, as the tyre drops a lot. It was good to understand and now we’ll try to work in a better way tomorrow.”

Raul Fernandez – P24

“The day was good, especially during the Free Practice 2. I did not get a good lap time, but this weekend, we are trying a different setting that we worked on during the test in Catalunya, so we will see how it works on the weekend’s duration. I think that it was a rather positive day, so we will continue our efforts tomorrow.”

Friday Report

Ducati Lenovo Team’s Francesco Bagnaia has come tantalisingly close to the 1:19s as he broke the All Time Lap Record in MotoGP FP2 at the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. The Italian fired in a 1:20.018 to establish a new benchmark around the Sachsenring as Ducati locked out the top three in the afternoon and overall.

Mooney VR46 Racing Team’s Luca Marini grabbed second and FP1 pace-setter Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) took third

Behind the Ducati trio, Aleix Espargaro was fourth-fastest, and he is the odd one out in a top six otherwise filled up by GP22s. Johann Zarco claimed fifth on a 1:20.264 and Prima Pramac Racing team-mate Jorge Martin finished up sixth on a 1:20.275.

Seventh went to World Championship leader Quartararo on a 1:20.399, ahead of Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) and another impressive performance from Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) on yet another Ducati.

Either side of the top 10 cut-off which decides who goes straight into Q2, as it stands it’s Joan Mir in 10th on a 1:20.574 and his Team Suzuki Ecstar team-mate Alex Rins in 11th on a 1:20.591.

Nakagami faded in the afternoon but was first of the Honda riders in 12th on a 1:20.616, while Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) took 13th at another 0.131 seconds off the pace after an early run through the gravel at Turn 1.

Pol Espargaro took 14th, ahead of Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), and the first of the KTM contingent in Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), in 17th after a tough day for the Austrian factory.

MotoGP Friday Combined Practice Times

Moto2

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Augusto Fernandez is the rider to beat after topping both Moto2 Free Practice. He raised the bar and ended FP2 nearly half a second clear, with team-mate Pedro Acosta next-best and Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors Speed Up) making it an all-Spanish top three. Meanwhile, World Championship leader Italian Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), is currently a considerable way outside the provisional Q2 cut-off.

Moto2 Friday Combined Practice Times

Moto3

Leopard Racing’s Tatsuki Suzuki set a 1:26.363 in FP2 to take Moto3 top spot on Friday, while team-mate Dennis Foggia took third. GASGAS Aspar Team’s Izan Guevara splits the duo on the combined timesheets thanks to his FP1-topping 1:26.459.

Aussie rookie Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power), on his second visit to the Sachsenring in Moto3, took fourth on the combined times on a 1:26.608 and John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) finished fifth courtesy of his 1:26.691 from FP1.

Moto3 Friday Combined Practice Times

German GP Schedule