MotoGP Riders reflect on controversial #ArgentinaGP
Cal Crutchlow – P1
“It was nice to win, but it was to be expected to be honest. I came into the weekend thinking I could leave here with a chance of being first or second with Marc (Marquez) and we ended up winning. I was comfortable in the battle, I felt I took no risks and stayed with riders that I probably could have dropped should I have needed to. We have to be pleased, the team has done a fantastic job in the last two races and I think we could have fought for victory no matter which circuit it would have been this weekend. Now we go to Austin and we’ll aim for the top five and look to come out of there with strong points. This year I said I wanted to win some races! It’s really nice to be part of that group of riders that have been able to win these 750 races for Honda. I’ve been supported very well by them in the last few years and this year the support is even better.”
Johann Zarco – P2
“It was a pretty difficult race, overall when we had to choose and then the delayed start was quite good for all the riders. Just Jack (Miller) chose the slick from the beginning. From the start there were not so many options for the best line, but behind Dani (Pedrosa) I felt I was stuck, so finally I did the maneuver, tried to overtake him. Because of the conditions I went a little bit wide, but that was the way to pass him. I’m sorry that he crashed there. Overall it was a very difficult race today, I was almost crashing. I did my maximum from the start to the end. In fighting with Cal (Crutchlow), I didn’t want to do a mistake, so in the end, he deserved this win today. I’m really happy, that I was able to catch this second place!”
Alex Rins – P3
“I’m very satisfied with this race, because it wasn’t easy and before the start I was nervous due to the delay and everything. But finally, when we started, I was feeling really good from the beginning. When I was behind Miller I was thinking ‘OK, maybe I need to overtake him and go’, because my feeling was perfect. But when I was leading I made a small mistake – the track was very difficult with the damp patches, especially off the racing line. Myself, my team, and everyone in Japan has worked really hard to have a competitive bike, and we’ve done it! Texas is one of my favourite tracks, despite the fact that last year I had a fast crash and broke my arm. This year we arrive with strong mentality, more experience, and a great bike.”
Jack Miller – P4
“I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed because I wasn’t able to fight for the podium after leading the race for a long time. I made a mistake that cost me a lot. But to be honest I’m very happy for this weekend and we’ve done an incredible job with the team. The decision of Race Direction on the grid? I think they had to make a difficult decision in a moment of great stress”.
Maverick Vinales – P5
“I think today’s race was very important to understand many things. I think that for sure now we can only further improve. I saw many things we can improve in the rain and also in the dry, so I’m feeling quite happy and positive about that. I’m not happy about the result, I wanted to try to win. At the end of the race I had the pace to be at the front, but anyway, I saw many things that will be useful and for sure we are going to improve a lot. Especially in the rain we have to focus in another direction. Now we’re on the safe side with the tyres, we have to try and be more aggressive.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P6
“It was a really difficult weekend for us, but in the end we managed to take home some good points on a day in which we weren’t quick enough to fight for the podium. I’m happy with the way I managed my race, but in certain conditions and on certain tracks we must still improve because clearly we’re not quick enough. The fact that we didn’t get many laps in the dry over the weekend didn’t help us with setting the bike up but if we look at things from another point of view, I was lucky because three riders fighting for the championship scored three zeroes for different reasons. We go back home quite calm about things, but this weekend showed us that we still have to continue to work on different aspects of our bike.”
Tito Rabat – P7
“It was a great weekend and I’m extremely happy with the work of my team and the performance of my Ducati. We did a superb job, third on Friday in dry conditions, fourth in qualifying yesterday and today I scored my best result in MotoGP in a very tricky race. Just to finish the race was a success in itself, but being so close to the front was fantastic. It was great to be able to ride in the front group as I saw and learned many things. I’m very happy, but this is only the start. We have to continue to work in the same way and keep improving in the next races.”
Andrea Iannone – P8
“I was one of the first riders to decide to switch bikes after the first warm-up lap, but unfortunately everybody copied me! I’m joking, but the truth is that in just a few minutes the asphalt and conditions changed a lot. In any case, I didn’t have a good grid position and that disappointed me because I had really good pace during the race when I was closing the gaps to the other riders. But in the end, often when I tried to overtake I made a few mistakes and I think that has been the most difficult thing for me. But I’m really happy for Suzuki and Alex for this podium. And my own result has also been quite good. Me and my team are working well and it’s possible to get to the top. We’ll try our best in Austin!”
Hafizh Syahrin – P9
“I’m so happy about the result today! I pushed really hard all the weekend, the team did a very good job. I felt truly strong this weekend, we only struggled in qualifying, because I didn’t find good grip to stop the bike in a decent way. For the race I was fully motivated, I pushed and when I saw that I was in P15 after the first lap, I was surprised. My pace was really strong and I was able to follow the Factory Yamaha quite easily, but it was difficult to pass the Ducati, because it’s very fast on the straight. I tried it many times, but it was not possible. In the end P9 is a really amazing result for me, I have a fantastic feeling with the team and want to pass my congratulations to Johann for his podium. We are very happy and leave Argentina with a great result. I hope I can do also a good race in Austin and will continue to work hard on myself.”
Danilo Petrucci – P10
“All in all, this Top 10 is a good result at the end of a weekend that was very difficult for us. After the difficulties of practices and quali we managed to have a competitive bike. In the end I could also take Rabat and Dovi but on the last lap Sharin touched me and I lost time. It was a pity because I could have done a better result. I return home however with a positive mood. I can’t wait to be in the US”.
Pol Espargaro – P11
“You always want more but overall after the crazy situation with the rain and the delayed start procedure – and to finish eleventh is still not our wish or place – but I think we did OK. At the moment when grip is low we struggle a bit more than the rest so it hasn’t been an easy weekend in the dry. I think 11th is not a bad result but we want more and we need to improve our bike to be where we want to be and we have a long way to go. But we will work hard and now look to Austin.”
Scott Redding – P12
“It was a very long race. After lining up on the grid, there were some rather confusing moments. Fortunately, the delayed start gave everyone a chance to gain a better understanding of the situation. Today it was basically about interpreting the track conditions straight away and I must say that things worked quite well. I lost ground on the longest straight, whereas on the rest of the track I managed to stay close to my rivals. I am happy with the final result, both because I rediscovered the feeling after Qatar and for the guys on the team who really had to work under pressure today. Riding along with the other riders for the entire race distance also gave me a chance to better understand where the RS-GP and I need to improve and that will help us in the upcoming races.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P13
“I’m really happy for the team to see Cal’s victory today. Also for myself, I’m really happy to take my first points in MotoGP and finish in 13th place in a difficult race. There were some delays and rain which made it difficult to concentrate and the race was really long. But like in Qatar, our pace from the middle of the race to the end was quite good and I learnt a lot of new things again. Thanks to the team; yesterday was a bit disappointing, but to go from last position to take my first points today I’m really happy. Now I’m looking forward to the next race in Texas and trying to make another step forward.”
Franco Morbidelli – P14
“We gambled a little with the tyre choice but our team made the right decision and did the correct thing but we were not rewarded because they delayed the start. I was careful in the opening laps but gradually recovered some positions and I’m happy for these two points considering the problems that we’ve had here.”
Jorge Lorenzo – P15
“Today’s conditions were the worst possible for me, the ones where I feel most ill-at-ease: having to ride with slicks when the track still has wet patches. In addition, starting from row 5 certainly didn’t help me much and, as I was in the middle of the group at the first curve, I had to try and avoid crashing out like last year. Afterwards I tried to make up some positions and when the track finally dried out, I began to lap with good times, something that I hadn’t done at all throughout the weekend and my feeling improved. I go away from Argentina with this little positive aspect that gives me the motivation to arrive at Austin and find the way to finally be quick.”
Álvaro Bautista – P16
“It was a race of two halves. In the first part the track still had some damp sections and I was struggling to get the tyres up to temperature so I lost some time. Halfway through the race I was passed by Jorge Lorenzo and decided to push to follow him, taking some risks even though I couldn’t feel the tyres. This suddenly gave them a bit more heat and I felt better. Three or four degrees make a big difference to the grip and from that point I was able to set a good pace.”
Tom Lüthi – P17
“I learnt a lot this weekend with the crazy weather and track conditions. I am hoping for bigger steps to improve but at the end of the race I was too much on the limit and fighting with the bike, I had some slides on the wet part of the track. I had a nice fight with Franco to try and get in the points but, unfortunately, I just missed out.”
Marc Marquez – P18
“It was a tricky race, in very tough conditions, with several drawbacks. Just before the start I had an issue with the engine, which stopped. We’ll look into it later. Anyway, I put my hands up but nobody was there. I was able to restart the bike and then I looked for some input from the marshals, as I wasn’t sure if, with the bike running again, I should go to my place on the grid or back to the pits. One marshal raised his hands, and a second one gave the thumbs up, which I interpreted to mean I could stay. When I saw the penalty message on the dashboard, I didn’t understand why, but I of course complied. Then I obviously tried push to recover and unfortunately I made some mistakes, the biggest one I believe being with Aleix. I approached faster than him and I didn’t realize it. I tried my best to avoid contact but unfortunately I wasn’t able. I saw the penalty and, to be safe, gave up two positions, not just one, before starting to push again. With Valentino it was different, as it was a consequence of the track conditions. I touched a wet patch, locked the front, and released the brakes. I tried to turn, again making my best effort to avoid contact. When he crashed I immediately apologised. It was a racing incident as happened earlier with Zarco and Dani, and then with Petrucci and Aleix. It was a tricky Sunday. Of course today I made some mistakes, which I recognize. Other mistakes were made by Race Direction on the grid, and others were due to the difficult conditions, but one thing I know for sure: never in my career have I intentionally hit another rider.”
Valentino Rossi – P19
“I’m OK, but this is a very bad situation. If you take what happened this weekend as an example, one incident can happen to anybody, you can make a mistake in braking, you can touch the other guy. It can happen, it’s racing. But from Friday morning on, Marquez did this to Viñales, to Dovizioso, to me, and on Saturday morning, and today he went straight through four riders. If you start to race like this, you raise the level to a very dangerous point. If all the riders race like this, this will become a very dangerous sport and it will finish in a bad way. It’s a very dangerous situation and I hope that what I said to Race Director Mike Webb makes them take more responsibility, they have to do something. I’m scared on the track when I’m with Marquez. I was scared today when I saw his name on the board. I’m not Race Direction – they will decide – but like this he is destroying our sport, because when you do 300 km an hour on the track, you have to have respect for your rivals.”
Karel Abraham – P20
“It was a very bad race for me today. The start was not bad but I had some contact with some riders, and then I settled down. After I was coming into the last corner and I hit the brake and there was no brake at all. So it was a tricky situation because I was going quite fast of course and I didn’t know what to do. Luckily by using the rear brake and pumping the front brake I managed to slow down the bike enough so that when I went into the gravel I could stop. But I lost a lot there and then I had a couple of red messages from the bike, which made me concerned, so we need to have a look at the bike and see what the problem was. Anyway, it’s not a good result and we have to work really hard to make things a lot better than today.”
Xavier Simeon – P21
“I’m disappointed with the race. I made a mistake after five or six laps on the back straight and I lost contact with the group that was fighting for the points. I felt comfortable even though I was struggling with some grip issues getting the bike into the turns and under acceleration. But I braked very hard and with the carbon brakes I did a stoppie and I had to go long to avoid crashing. From then my race was finished. But overall I’m happy with this weekend. Yesterday I was the best rookie in qualifying, but today I expected more from the race. We learnt a lesson and now we have to analyse what happened and work harder for the next race.”
Aleix Espargaro’ – DNF
“To be honest, I felt very good today. But from the start, the bike responded strangely to the throttle when I accelerated from low speed. For everything else, the feeling was excellent, so much that for the first time in my career, I was able to handle the wet patches without any problems. Then things got worse with the collisions with Marquez and Petrucci who, quite frankly, took some avoidable risks. I cannot be happy with two consecutive zero finishes on two occasions when I felt like I could have battled for important positions. Now I want to recharge my batteries with my family before going to Austin, where we will pick back up from the good that we saw in these last two weekends.”
Bradley Smith – DNF
“It was a shame. It was an exciting start to the race and I think I made up twelve positions in the first laps. I was fully committed in the patchy conditions. Unfortunately I had a few situations where riders hit me and I lost a lot of ground. I tried to get my head down and start to come forwards, and my lap-times were coming down but I got too greedy in the first corner and went off-line. I lost the front. It was a frustrating way to end the race but there are a lot of positives from this weekend. I found a good feeling with the bike from FP1 and the performance was there in the race so I need to keep doing the same things and fingers crossed in Austin things will turn out well.”
Dani Pedrosa – DNF
“There’s not much to say about the race. I think we did a great job during the weekend, and I was also riding very well. My race ended before I finished the first lap. Race Direction needs to look after every rider’s safety. Right now I have a lot of pain in my right wrist. I’ll have it checked again in Barcelona on Tuesday.”
2018 MotoGP Round Two Argentina Race Results
- Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL 40’36.342
2. Johann ZARCO Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +0.251
3. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +2.501
4. Jack MILLER Alma Pramac Racing +4.390
5. Maverick VIÑALES Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +14.941
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +22.533
7. Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing +23.026
8. Andrea IANNONE Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +23.921
9. Hafizh SYAHRIN Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +24.311
10. Danilo PETRUCCI Alma Pramac Racing +26.003
11. Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +31.022
12. Scott REDDING Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +31.891
13. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +32.452
14. Franco MORBIDELLI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +42.061
15. Jorge LORENZO Ducati Team +42.274
16. Alvaro BAUTISTA Angel Nieto Team +42.625
17. Thomas LUTHI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +43.350
18. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team +43.860
19. Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +52.082
20. Karel ABRAHAM Angel Nieto Team +1’03.944
21. Xavier SIMEON Reale Avintia Racing +1’10.144
Not Classified
Bradley SMITH Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team
MotoGP World Championship Points Standings
- Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda GBR 38
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati ITA 35
3 Johann ZARCO Yamaha FRA 28
4 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha SPA 21
5 Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA 20
6 Jack MILLER Ducati AUS 19
7 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati ITA 17
8 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 16
9 Alex RINS Suzuki SPA 16
10 Andrea IANNONE Suzuki ITA 15
11 Tito RABAT Ducati SPA 14
12 Dani PEDROSA Honda SPA 9
13 Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha MAL 9
14 Franco MORBIDELLI Honda ITA 6
15 Pol ESPARGARO KTM SPA 5
16 Scott REDDING Aprilia GBR 4
17 Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati SPA 3
18 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda JPN 3
19 Karel ABRAHAM Ducati CZE 1
20 Jorge LORENZO Ducati SPA 1
