MotoGP 2022 – Round 16 – Motegi Quotes
Jack Miller – P1
“Wow, where do I start?! I mean, I rode out of my skin today. Maybe I can ride a motorcycle sometimes… to be honest, I didn’t know I had THAT in me.
“I never thought that I’d be able to win a Grand Prix like that, just pulling away from everybody and dominating… it was a pretty incredible feeling. When you’re riding like that, the biggest opponent you have is the little man inside your head trying to put doubts in your mind, so I just tried not to listen to him too much! It was a case of hitting my marks and not making any mistakes. It all felt under control.
“I got asked afterwards whether that was the race of my life, and I’d have to say 100 per cent yes. Ever since we kicked things off here in Japan on Friday afternoon, I felt incredible on the bike. Everything felt like it was coming relatively easy. The bike was working fantastic and every little thing we tried was getting better.
“The only time things went a bit wrong was in qualifying in the wet, which was strange for me because generally in wet conditions I feel I can challenge right at the front, more so than even in the dry. But for whatever reason I was struggling, having moments and whatnot and ended up back in seventh, my worst Saturday for a while. Maybe that’s the secret, have a not-so good Saturday and save all of the good stuff for Sunday…
“Seventh on the grid – especially here at Motegi where there’s a lot of places things can go wrong on the first laps because of the track layout – had the potential to trip me up a bit, but I got a good start and then was able to pick the boys off ahead of me fairly easily… maybe not easy, it was more that I felt really confident immediately.
“I hit the front pretty early, just three laps in, and lap by lap I was able to eke out the gap. I thought I’d be safe if I could get it out to four seconds or so. So when it got to five seconds… I could calm things down a bit but even then, I still felt incredible.
“It’s the best I’ve ever ridden a motorcycle in my entire life, and the whole time I had a smile on my face. I got a bit emotional on the in-lap and I was crying like a baby – yeah, I know, what’s new right?! – but honestly, it was magic.
“The shoey on the podium… these boots absorb a fair bit of the champagne, more than I probably remembered they did, so that wasn’t the best shoey of all time… but no, it was amazing to be able do that again though, and the fans got a kick out of it. My boots went in the crowd, my knee sliders… I would have probably thrown my race suit as well but it might not have cleared the fence.
“It’s easy to say after a win like that – any win, really – but it just feels so good to be back on these flyaway races again after the last few years. We’ve definitely missed them, us riders from this side of the world more than anyone. It was just so nice to be back in Japan, and even from Friday we had an amazing crowd here. They’re great fans here, they cheer for and respect all the riders, they sit through the bad weather like we had on Saturday… there’s nowhere like it.
“Doing the flyaways again just felt… normal, and that was the best part of it, how familiar it felt. We’ve not really been able to say that for the past couple of years, so it feels unreal to be heading away and looking forward to what for me is the best part of the season. You have a lot of races end on end, and I get to be back on this side of the world.
“Race by race, I’m getting a little closer to racing at home again, which I’ve missed so much for the last couple of years. Being on the factory Ducati team pretty much since covid started, I’ve not had the chance to ride the red bike at home yet so that’ll be awesome in a few weeks.
“Anyway, the road show rolls on to Thailand next weekend, and that one will be packed to the rafters… definitely looking forward to that, but there’s some celebrating to do first, that’s for sure.”
Brad Binder – P2
“I’m really, really happy to be back on the podium today. I pushed as hard as I could right from the beginning. I had a few moments with the hard rear tire and it took me a while to find my confidence but in the end we made a good choice because I became more comfortable and could find my braking markers better. It was so difficult to pass Jorge but I arrived at that point on the last lap right at the perfect time in Turn 1. Thank you so much to my team: they all deserve this podium and we have all worked hard for this.”
Jorge Martín – P3
“Very happy, I had a great race and I gave everything. I’m sure if I had put the hard tyre on the back I could have fought for the win. Anyway, it’s okay, we’ve taken a step forward and I think we could do very well in Thailand. Congratulations to Jack.”
Marc Marquez – P4
“I am very happy with how the whole weekend has gone and we were able to put together an exciting race in the end. Most importantly it was a productive weekend and overall, it was a lot better than we were expecting. It was an important race because it is the first I have finished since my operation so it was a good test of the arm and also in this area we’ve been able to learn.
“Of course I would have liked to finish higher, but being realistic it was a good result and I was able to maintain my rhythm and then attack in the last laps. I want to say thanks to Honda and the Repsol Honda Team for helping me to put together a good weekend. Also thank you to all the Japanese staff and fans who came this weekend, it was a pleasure to see everyone again. Now we go to Thailand!”
Miguel Oliveira – P5
“It was a good race and I am proud of the performance today. The pace was a little bit too fast at the end and I could not hold my 4th place but we had a good weekend, we were fast in every condition and we made a good start. It’s a step in the right direction after two tricky races for me. A decent result and hopefully we can improve on this in Thailand.”
Luca Marini – P6
“I am very satisfied with my race pace, especially in the laps where I have been alone. I made good lines and I was able to go fast. Unfortunately I was starting a little behind in the middle of the grid, it was difficult to aim for the podium. In the very first few laps, I got stuck behind the riders who had the medium tire which gave them a small advantage at the start. I then kept my pace and I’m happy with how I rode and managed the GP, a little less of the position.”
Maverick Vinales – P7
“It was a difficult race. I struggle with lack of grip at the rear from the first lap. I had a hard time stopping the bike and it was a battle for a seventh-place finish which is not a result to turn up our noses at but I’m convinced that our potential was higher.
“We made the more conservative choice, namely the medium compound, whereas in the warmup I had good feelings with the soft and maybe that was a mistake. We’ll learn from this, as always, because we must not forget that our growth process is still in evolution. In these situations, the important thing is to take home the best possible result and that’s what we did.”
Fabio Quartararo – P8
“With all these circumstances, and after all that happened, I would say it’s definitely better to gain eight points than to lose them. It’s good in one way but frustrating in another because I feel like our potential was to fight more towards the front. But I couldn’t get in an overtake on Maverick.
“We ride in such a different way compared to the others. I gain so much time in Sector 2 and 3, but I lose it in Sector 4 and 1. I don’t think we made the correct tyre choice, but we managed the tyre pressure really well this race. I didn’t see Pecco, but I did hear him crash, so I think he didn’t crash that far from me. I knew he was coming. Maverick had a good pace, but I was stuck behind him, that was the difficult part.”
Enea Bastianini – P9
“In the end we did a good race. I didn’t manage to make the best use of the soft tyre at the beginning, which could have given us a little more performance-wise. We were lapping consistently in the low 1’46secs and we gathered some important data. It wasn’t easy to pass Pecco as he was braking very late; in the final part of the race, with the tyre wear there was not much I could do. It’s a shame that we started from way back.”
Marco Bezzecchi – P10
“Not a bad race: I didn’t have a great start, but I tried to recover. I was behind Pecco (Bagnaia ed) and staying so close, in his slipstream, I started to have some problems with the front tire. I lost something and tried to close as my best the race. Thanks to the Team, they did a great job, to the Academy and to all the Japanese fans, they were really special.”
Johann Zarco – P11
“I made a few mistakes after the start and lost a lot of positions, found myself thirteenth and after that it was almost impossible to play for important positions. It’s a shame because I really believed in it”
Pol Espargaro – P12
“I was feeling good in the first laps honestly. I was behind Quartararo and I felt like I was faster than him, I just couldn’t get close enough to pass him and I didn’t want to risk anything. After six or seven laps behind him the performance dropped a bit and allowed some riders to get past me so I lost my rhythm a bit. My tyres dropped and I started to struggle more. But it’s important to focus on the positives, and today we were strong at the start. It is an improvement over Aragon and we will try to make another step next week.”
Álex Márquez – P13
“I think we did a good job on race day, but it was a shame about qualifying because we started too far back. But our tyre choice was the correct one, the soft, but on the first laps there was a big train (of riders) and I wasn’t able to overtake and make advantage of the soft rear tyre. I did my best, gave 100% on every lap and the pace was not bad. I think today we had an opportunity to finish in the top 10, but with our qualifying position it wasn’t possible. We need to keep going, keep improving and next week is another opportunity. We will try to give our best again in Thailand and make a solid race.”
Franco Morbidelli – P14
“It was a particular race. I lost a lot of time in the beginning because I got tangled up with Alex Rins. He had a problem with his bike but kept overtaking me and then going wide, overtake me and going wide again. I spent the remainder of the race trying to catch up with the group that was in tenth to fifteenth, which was me at the time. I caught up in the end, but I couldn’t do anything.”
Cal Crutchlow – P15
“Honestly, the mistake made is I forgot to press the launch control devices so I started really badly. As you know with the Yamaha, the straight line speed is not amazing with the acceleration, so I was just being patient with the whole race. I came from a long way back to the position that I am in. I’m happy with the race that I did, I couldn’t have done anymore. My pace in the middle of the race was really good and I’m pleased with that. I think I would have been in the top 10 today easily with the pace that I had if i started in a good way and also if I qualified in a good way. So, I’m disappointed with that, but I can be proud with the way I rode today.”
Aleix Espargaro – P16
“We had a great opportunity to make up points today because I was faster than my direct championship contender rivals. From this point of view, the problem on the bike during the sighting lap really penalised us. It’s disappointing and there’s no point in denying it. I can’t say that I’m happy but we are a team and we need to remember that precisely at times like this. We have fought hard together to get to this level and we’ll give it our best all the way to the last lap of the last race.”
Fabio DiGiannantonio – P17
“It was a positive race, because with such little time in the dry we were still able to defend ourselves. We improved under braking and in cornering, and I was also able to make a few overtakes… Too bad for a small technical issue that prevented us from showing our full potential – which would have likely led to a few points. Generally speaking, however, we did a good job.”
Raul Fernandez – P18
“Today’s race was not bad in terms of time although it was difficult to be within the last riders. The entire race was interesting, and I think that I learned a lot today. We had a good fight towards the end with Remy; it reminded me a lot about last year when I was fighting for the wins, so it was really fun. Brad Binder was on the podium today, so this is incredible. He is from another world: I do all my laps in the limits and I’m not even close to him. We have a similar rhythm to him but he standouts on small details which make the difference. We have access to his data, so we will analyse it for next week.”
Remy Gardner – P19
“I gave my 100 per cent today in the race. I was on the limit all the time and it was a tough one. I was not comfortable with the front tire so I did what I could today. Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira were fast today. They gain time over us on braking and acceleration at straight line speed, so I am struggling to understand why. We had a good fight with Raul towards the end over the final lap until the final line so it was good fun in memory of last season.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P20
“It has been an amazing weekend at my home GP. Of course, the result was not what we were looking for, but I want to say a big thanks to all my fans who came to Motegi, it was definitely the best weekend of the season for me. So thanks to my fans and all my team, I will try to recover as soon as possible and hopefully very soon I’ll be fit to ride the bike well. See you all again next year!”
Francesco Bagnaia – DNF
“First, I would like to apologise to my team because today’s crash was only due to my mistake. Compared to this morning’s warm up, I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike and I made an overambitious maneuver in an attempt to overtake Fabio. I was hoping that if I passed him, maybe I could take advantage of a possible mistake by Viñales to make up more ground. In any case, I will reflect on my mistake. The only positive note today was Jack’s victory, which makes me really happy. Now let’s try to stay focused and think about the next race on Sunday in Buriram, Thailand”.
Alex Rins – DNF
“It was a really bad race for us. The start actually went well and I made up quite a lot of positions, but then at Turn 3 I decided to overtake some riders on the outside, on the kerb. After that I started to lose front feeling, it seemed that the tyre was deflating little by little. I lost a lot of places and I felt I was going to crash on every corner, so I returned to the box. My crew confirmed an air leak caused by a dent in the wheel rim. I wish things had gone differently, I really wanted to reward the fans for their support.”
Takuya Tsuda – DNF
“I had a good start but then I started to feel something strange with the engine, so I was cautious and paying attention. I felt a drop in the power, and then the fire happened and I had to stop. I actually had a very good feeling with the chassis so it’s really disappointing. Anyway, overall, I had a very good experience this weekend and I would like to thank the team for giving me this opportunity.”
Tetsuta Nagashima – DNF
“I am disappointed not to be able to finish the race here at the Japanese GP, so I want to say sorry to Honda, HRC and the fans. It was an incredible experience to line up on the grid with the rest of the MotoGP field – achieving one of my dreams. Even without completing the race I was able to learn a lot about racing at the MotoGP level. I am looking forward to my next test with HRC to put into action what we have learned. Thank you to HRC for this opportunity.”
Darryn Binder – DNF
“Today was a disappointing end to the race, crashing out in lap 14. I had a good start and had quite a good rhythm during the race. Cal had just got past me and he had a good pace and I was trying to follow him. But unfortunately, at lap 14 I had a small crash and a disappointing end to the race. Anyway, we take the positives, we had such a short track time this weekend especially during the practise with just one session, I felt I could do quite a ride in the race until I went down. But we’ll try again in Buriram.”
Team Managers
Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager
“I am delighted with Jack’s victory, because he is a wonderful person and one of the strongest riders in MotoGP. He was clearly superior to everyone today: he rode impeccably, making incredible overtakes and keeping a very high pace despite being alone at the front. He really deserved this success! Of course, I am very sorry for Pecco’s crash, but I think it can happen to a rider who is giving everything to win a world title. Now we have to put this race today behind us and continue as if nothing happened.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“It‘s been two eventful races. The tables seem to have turned in terms of fortune today, and we won some points back after losing a big chunk in Aragon. Coming here, we initially hoped for a higher finish, especially considering our race pace potential, but starting from the busy mid pack, we knew we had to temper our expectations a bit.
“Fabio had to work hard for eighth place. He did a great job to withstand the pressure from Bagnaia in the final laps. Fabio‘s ability to deal with these kind of situations shows what a mature rider he is, and these eight points are important for the championship.
“Franky was in a similar situation as Fabio. His grid position compromised his race result, because finding a way through in the busy mid pack was not easy for us. We can’t be satisfied in terms of our positions after the race, but in the end we still increased our championship lead. We are now going to Thailand for the last race of this triple-header with the aim to do better.”
Livio Suppo – Suzuki Team Manager
“Naturally, this is not how we wanted Suzuki’s home GP to go, and not how we wanted to say goodbye to all the amazing Japanese fans. Tsuda’s GSX-RR caught fire after a small leak, but luckily he is fine. Alex picked up some damage to his front wheel under hard braking on the kerbs and he had to pit in. The only positive is that we don’t have time to brood on today’s upsetting results, because we’ll move directly to Thailand and start focusing on that.”
Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager
“Despite the grid positions not being very high, we had a lot of confidence for the race. But sadly, both riders retired due to problems. I’m so sorry for the Japanese fans, we really wanted to have a good race here at home. We still have four races left, and we’ll continuing working to try and finish with some good results.”
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager
“Great results here in Motegi and starting from the first row meant that we had another good and improved qualification. When we begin a race from the first rows we know we can show our potential. Brad took the opportunity to go for the podium: an amazing job.
“Also great by Miguel in 5th after pushing for the podium for half a race. It was a strange and demanding weekend with only one dry session on Friday so the team and the engineers did an incredible job and made the right tire choice with limited information available. It is a team result today. The bike is still improving so we are confident in the direction that we took. Thanks to all who have supported us so far.”
Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 KTM Team Manager
“A decent race from both Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner today in Motegi although we knew that it would be a difficult race. Fortunately, they both picked up the right tyres which were hard front and rear, and we could see that it worked well with both Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira.
“The start was not ideal, but we managed to push all race long to stay in a good group, unfortunately outside of the points. Both Raul and Remy never gave up and both pushed until the final lap of the race – they even had a decent fight – and it is important not to forget that they are still rookies. They learned a lot today, especially how the tyres work when you are on the limit all race long.
“Even though this is not our best result, it was an interesting race and I am proud of them both. It was not easy, we did not have much track time, and it was the first time for them on the MotoGP bike.
“Of course, we are very happy about Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira’s results. They did an amazing race all the way until the end, and this is a result that should cheer us all up.Thank you to the whole team for their hard work in Japan, and we will try again in Thailand.”
Razlan Razali – WithU Yamaha RNF Team Principal
“It was a solid effort by Cal Crutchlow to get one point in the first Asian round in Japan. He had a strong pace, unfortunately due to the difficult qualifying yesterday because of the yellow flags, if only he started in front he could be amongst the top 10 because his pace was very strong, he felt good and we can be happy with that one point.”
“With Darryn, he made a tremendous great start, gained seven positions in the first lap, unfortunately his pace dropped a bit but he was maintaining behind Cal, but a little mistake caused him to fall in lap 14. Next race will be in Buriram, Thailand, we have a couple of days to rest and then we start again.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – WithU Yamaha RNF Team Manager
“That was a very different race day than the first two days, the temperature was completely different and much higher than FP1 on Friday, of course Saturday was full rain so everybody was shooting a little bit in the dark for the tyres. Many chose the hard rear tyres, and none of the Yamaha riders tried the hard rear tyre and it might have been a small error to do that.
“But anyway, Cal did a fantastic race again, 19 seconds behind the race winner which was very good and one point for the team. He missed out at the start a bit because he forgot to set up his launch control right and also could not engage the front starting device but other than that he did a good result.”
“Darryn had a great first eight laps and had a good pace, and when Cal passed him and escaped a little bit, he struggled coming out of corner eight, with too much wheelie and power probably, he tipped into nine and when the bike stabilised he lost the front and crashed. Rider is okay, he picked up the bike and he could continue but there was too much gravel around to finish well. He was disappointed but he learnt a lot, it was not easy for him as we didn’t have enough track time here in Japan. Let’s go to Buriram and we hope we have stable weather and can do our practises in a normal way.”
Pablo Nieto – Mooney VR46 Racing Team Manager
“A great race: both riders, as rookies here at Motegi, in the Top 10 at the end of a weekend that was really difficult to manage due to the sessions and the weather. Luca once again showed his potential, he tried to overtake Miguel (Oliveira) at the last corner, but in any case he closed again close to the very first guys. Marco did well too, he has struggled at the start, but he climbed up the rankings in the final stages.”
2022 Motegi MotoGP Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Jack MILLER | DUCATI | 42m29.174 |
| 2 | Brad BINDER | KTM | +3.409 |
| 3 | Jorge MARTIN | DUCATI | +4.136 |
| 4 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | +7.784 |
| 5 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | +8.185 |
| 6 | Luca MARINI | DUCATI | +8.348 |
| 7 | Maverick VIÑALES | APRILIA | +9.879 |
| 8 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | +10.193 |
| 9 | Enea BASTIANINI | DUCATI | +10.318 |
| 10 | Marco BEZZECCHI | DUCATI | +16.419 |
| 11 | Johann ZARCO | DUCATI | +16.586 |
| 12 | Pol ESPARGARO | HONDA | +17.456 |
| 13 | Alex MARQUEZ | HONDA | +18.219 |
| 14 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | +19.012 |
| 15 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | YAMAHA | +19.201 |
| 16 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | +25.473 |
| 17 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | DUCATI | +27.006 |
| 18 | Raul FERNANDEZ | KTM | +29.374 |
| 19 | Remy GARDNER | KTM | +29.469 |
| 20 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | +43.294 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | 1 lap |
| DNF | Alex RINS | SUZUKI | 10 laps |
| DNF | Darryn BINDER | YAMAHA | 10 laps |
| DNF | Takuya TSUDA | SUZUKI | 13 laps |
| DNF | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | HONDA | 15 laps |
1 Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – 42’29.174
2 Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory) – KTM – +3.409
3 Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) – Ducati – +4.136
MotoGP Championship Points Standings
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Points |
| 1 | QUARTARARO Fabio | FRA | 219 |
| 2 | BAGNAIA Francesco | ITA | 201 |
| 3 | ESPARGARO Aleix | SPA | 194 |
| 4 | BASTIANINI Enea | ITA | 170 |
| 5 | MILLER Jack | AUS | 159 |
| 6 | BINDER Brad | RSA | 148 |
| 7 | ZARCO Johann | FRA | 138 |
| 8 | MARTIN Jorge | SPA | 120 |
| 9 | VIÑALES Maverick | SPA | 113 |
| 10 | RINS Alex | SPA | 108 |
| 11 | OLIVEIRA Miguel | POR | 106 |
| 12 | MARINI Luca | ITA | 101 |
| 13 | BEZZECCHI Marco | ITA | 80 |
| 14 | MIR Joan | SPA | 77 |
| 15 | MARQUEZ Marc | SPA | 73 |
| 16 | ESPARGARO Pol | SPA | 47 |
| 17 | NAKAGAMI Takaaki | JPN | 46 |
| 18 | MARQUEZ Alex | SPA | 42 |
| 19 | MORBIDELLI Franco | ITA | 28 |
| 20 | DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio | ITA | 23 |
| 21 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | ITA | 15 |
| 22 | BINDER Darryn | RSA | 10 |
