MotoGP riders reflect on Saturday race at Phillip Island

MotoGP 2023

Round 16 – Australia Grand Prix
Saturday – Jack Miller

Johann Zarco – P1

“I’m very happy, I finally won. An incredible race and winning here is even more enjoyable. A feeling that I had been missing for a long time, I was always there and I had always missed something… today we did it.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P2

“I’m very happy, it was another difficult weekend but every time we rise, and once again we finished at the front. Johann did an amazing job with the rear tyre, and I was controlling all the laps. I was just missing a bit of traction in the last lap but I’m happy. Martin was on the soft tyre, and I had to think hard at the start, because I knew he would go away. The pace was strong throughout the race, but I kept controlling the rear tyre until the end, and I was right because in a moment I went from fifth to second. It was a race in which I had to be calm because I knew the soft tyre wouldn’t last and finally everything was perfect. Points are always fundamental, now we have 27 on Martin, things can change very quickly so we must be very careful and understand perfectly what is going on. There are four and a half races left so it will be important to remain constant every time.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P3

“I had an incredible start, maybe my best ever. I always have fun at this track and it was a fantastic race. I knew I was competitive but I honestly not as much as I ended up being! I had a great pace: I managed to battle with the top riders and then the last lap was incredible. It’s a podium we deserved, yet I still have to fully realise what happened…”

Brad Binder – P4

“Really happy with qualifying…and the first 25 laps of the race! I felt great but was having a couple of issues in the faster corners when the tire performance dropped. I was able to work out a solution in the last sector and gained a bit more pace again. I was chasing [Jorge] Martin and not really thinking too much about what was going on behind me and before I knew it I went from 2nd to 5th! Anyway, I think we had a strong race even if that was not the result we wanted. We also made huge progress if we look at how we went here last year.”

Jorge Martin – P5

“The mistake is obvious, we made the wrong choice of tyre. It’s a shame because it was done, I had practically won and then on the last lap I tried to save what could be saved. I’m the fastest and I’m proving it but I have to stop making certain mistakes.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P6

“As first feedback after the race, I can say that I am very tired. It’s not so much the pain in the collarbone, but in the arm and neck. I couldn’t ride as I wanted and I’m very disappointed about this because this is one of my favourite tracks. The first laps were the most complicated, the bike wasn’t turning and I had to push hard on the front tire. However, with the tires drop, things started to go better. For tomorrow’s Sprint, we just have to wait for the weather. From a physical point of view, I’m not scared of the wet, more of the cold which makes everything even more difficult.”

Jack Miller – P7

“It was a decent Grand Prix. I had a bit of fun with the guys there. The bike was working good and I cannot complain. I felt I was losing a bit too much time in the last sector but then also struggling a bit with the front tire. I had to try and nurse it. We learned from that today. We didn’t really want that result at our home GP but it was a solid finish and we were not too far away from the front guys. Happy enough and happy with the bike. We have a bit more work to do but things are going good.”

Alex Marquez – P9

“Physically speaking it has been a challenging race, but that’s what I was expecting. I tried to stay calm and focused, while always trying to stay behind some other rider. I was in the battle for the top six at some point, but I had no energy left to attack. Ninth is surely a good result especially considering that yesterday I didn’t know if I would have finished the race or not. Tomorrow’s sprint race will surely be ‘easier’, physically speaking.”

Enea Bastianini – P10

“I can’t be happy, that’s for sure. Today it went worse, in the sense there was more grip on the track than yesterday, and I struggled more. I couldn’t get the bike to slide the rear, so it was pushing a lot at the front and moving around, consuming the front left of the tyre. The strange thing is that I felt better in the last ten laps than in the first. It was hard to ride like this because I couldn’t turn. Evidently, we do well when there is less grip, so we’ll look carefully at the data to understand why I went better in the last ten laps compared to the first laps when the tyre should make the difference. I went into this race with much higher expectations, and I had to scale them back, but I know what I can do on the bike, we just have to try to get in tune to work better.”

Luca Marini – P12

“A complicated race, but overall a difficult weekend. It’s a shame that the race was moved to today, I really would have needed an extra day to work on the bike. In general, I lack speed in the entry of the corner and I have little confidence on the front. I didn’t get a bad start, I then tried to manage the rear tire as best as I could, but when I found myself alone and started pushing I had a drop. The pace wasn’t bad, but starting from the back of the grid makes things more complicated. We work on the data to make a step and wait for the weather forecast for tomorrow.”

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Miguel Oliveira – P13

“Today was a bit better than yesterday, we found some speed and some pace for the main Race, which was positive. I managed to collect a couple of points despite not being 100% comfortable on the bike. I had some good moments, even last weekend in Indonesia we were quite fast and competitive. We managed to find a good setting but it was a bit too late and we made the wrong choice of tyres there, but today in Australia, we made a good choice. We are learning, we take every session to learn and take the maximum from this bike. Hopefully, we still find something to improve for tomorrow and we go from there.”

Fabio Quartararo – P14

“It was a tough qualifying and a tough Race. We have to keep working to make a step forward. I didn‘t expect to have this feeling, I expected much better. But it is what it is, and we have to keep working hard, as always, to find a solution.”

Marc Marquez – P15

“Last year the soft tyre brought us the podium, this year the gamble didn’t pay off. I was hoping for a slower race, but straight away Martin was pushing hard and I knew it would be a very fast race. At the start I really enjoyed the ten or so laps with Bagnaia and Zarco as we were fighting a lot. Then I needed to change my tactic and just focus on bringing the bike home as I was suffering more with tyre life. Now we wait and see what will happen with the situation tomorrow.”

Raul Fernandez – P16

“Today, I think we were very competitive. I am happy because I had the pace. We did a mistake in the race, but we worked very well and I thank the team and Aprilia for that. I am enjoying myself on the bike a lot, so basically, we need to understand better where we need improve because in the end, our target is to try and win races and try to fight with the Ducati. To be able to this, we need to improve for the future.”

Franco Morbidelli – P17

“I need to be content with the first half of the Race I did. Then, unfortunately, I dropped a bit too much in the second half. Maybe the medium front wasn‘t the right choice, but anyway, if we ride tomorrow, we‘ll try to make another step, have a better start, and give even more. We have to keep believing that anything is possible as we look for more.”

Pol Espargaro – P18

“We knew that the soft tire would fade faster than the medium but perhaps not so early and so much. The race pace was so fast and I was trying to manage the situation and stay with the guys despite the spin. Around mid-race it really went and I had to suffer with the lap-time. We had some fun at the beginning, and we also learned from this. So those are the positive things we must take from today.”

Joan Mir – DNF

“I disappointed with today, it is another hard one. I was just trying to make my race, not hurting anyone, trying to take care of the tyres because you saw what happened at the end of the race. We were working in the correct way according to the data. Then Marini tried to overtake me and hit me, and I fell after losing the front. Being in the back, the situation is more complicated as the riders are fighting a lot – I was a victim of it today. But this is racing. Let’s see tomorrow.”

Augusto Fernandez – DNF

“A real shame because we showed some good speed and were competitive all the weekend; every weekend we are a bit closer! We are carrying speed and I feel better and better. I hope we can race tomorrow and I can leave Phillip Island with a good sensation. I’m positive.”

Team Managers

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“A Saturday race, a bit strange but we were ready. Brad showed he was in it for the win right until the end. It was messy! He was only a few tenths away from it which was a shame. Jack performed really well but maybe struggled a bit to overtake in the beginning. Once he found the pace then he was good. Overall, it’s been a great weekend: 1-2 on Friday and Brad was on the first row. We made a huge step everywhere compared to 2022. We should be happy…but at the same time it’s a bit bittersweet.”

Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager

“A special day as we had to move the race forward because of the bad weather. We had a bit less time to prepare the bike and choose the tire but that was the situation for everybody. Pol had a strong qualifying today, the best of the season so far. He took a gamble for the race but that was the only acceptable tire for him, so he tried to control the drop. From midway it left him trying to get points and he couldn’t make it. Augusto was disappointed with the race because he had been pretty strong up until that point. He was unlucky with the penalty and at the end of Q1. He started steadily but the front end crash in Turn 4 ended things for him. I hope we have the Sprint tomorrow and we know he will try his best for a decent result.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“We have been struggling all weekend to find a good pace. The results in qualifying were also disappointing, so we knew from that point on that this Race would be very difficult, and it was like that. There is not much to say at the moment. It is also difficult to believe that we can make drastic improvements on the bike for tomorrow, but we have 20 hours to come up with a solution. However, it remains to be seen if they will be of use for tomorrow. It will all depend on the weather how the Sunday Sprint plays out.”

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