#QatarTest Day Two MotoGP Rider Quotes and Images

#QatarTest Day Two Rider Quotes

Andrea Iannone – P1

“Here, since yesterday, the bike has given me a good feeling. I am able to ride more and more with my usual style, and we struggle less where we don’t have hard braking. Today I completed a short race simulation and it was quite positive, we still have some room to improve but the team and Suzuki are doing a good job. We’ve taken all the information from the first two tests and tried to build a competitive bike. So far I’m very happy with how things are going here in Qatar!”

Andrea Dovizioso – P2

“Even though the uncertain weather conditions didn’t allow us to make use of all the time available, in the end we managed to test everything we had scheduled. I’m very satisfied with the feeling with the bike: on this track the Desmosedici GP has always worked really well, but this year it’s going even better. My best time I set in a mini long-run of 12 laps which I did this evening, and I have to admit that the times came quite easily. Here in Qatar however every day we can find different conditions and so we must try to be quick tomorrow as well and conclude our work schedule.”

Marc Marquez – P3

“The day went quite well. We struggled a little in the middle of the session as we started to try a few things and we briefly lost the direction, but that was also good to understand something different. When the temperature dropped in the evening and I was on the hard front tyre, I lost the bike in the turn 2, which is a bit of a characteristic crash at this track. This, in the end, turned out to be a positive as well, because I had to jump on my second bike, which was not in our plan, and I felt better! I’m happy with how today went, but tomorrow we’ll keep working hard on the setting with the target of improving our pace and being more consistent at this track, which is one of the more demanding circuits for us.”

Johann Zarco – P4

“Overall, it was a great day, we made some huge improvements with the new tyre and I’m happy about that. With used tyres we also had a good pace and the conditions were pretty interesting today. We were better than yesterday, as we found what was missing. But we’re still working on it. I feel we are on a good level, but maybe not on the top level to fight for the victory. So it’s quite obvious, that we still have some work to do. What I can feel on the bike is really nice, the top speed is great as well, yet I enjoy riding here a lot. For tomorrow, we’ll try some more details to further improve.”

Alex Rins – P5

“For me this second day was really good, we didn’t have new things to test, we’ve just been focused on finalizing the GSX-RR for the race pace. We tried small things on the suspension, but not too much. I think it was really positive because our pace was very good over more than one lap. Tomorrow I’ll try to do a race simulation to see where we are ‘in reality’.”

Cal Crutchlow – P6

“We had another positive day. However, my feeling with the front of the bike is not fantastic, today was another difficult day for the front end feeling and we’re struggling a bit with the turning of the bike. But my speed is there and I feel good and confident. We were on the used tyre a lot today, also we tried the softer option tyre and I managed to complete ten laps on it. We have to continue to work tomorrow on the final day of testing and do what we can before the first race of the new season in Qatar – I look forward to it.”

Maverick Vinales – P7

“For me it was a positive day, we tried many things. Compared to yesterday we lost a bit of grip. It’s the same feeling we had at every test: we have to work more and even harder. We improved our rhythm, but during the time attack I didn’t feel as good as I did yesterday, so I couldn’t improve a lot. But I think we have things clearer for tomorrow, so we are going to try to do at least one long run with a full tank, to see how the bike is working. For tomorrow we’re also going to focus on improving the feeling with the rear and improve the consistency of the bike.”

Danilo Petrucci – P8

“We started very fast even if we had the tyres used yesterday. I was also at the top of the standings for a few laps but then I crashed practically with Jack. I don’t know what happened, it was a very strange crash because there were no alerts. We lost a bit of time but when I returned to the track I was back fast. I am satisfied with what we have done so far in Qatar”.

Jack Miller – P9

“After the crash I saw Danilo almost hit me. It was quite scaring but fortunately nothing happened. It wasn’t an easy day because after the crash we had to solve a problem with the bike. But if I have to be honest I am very satisfied because I feel that we have made many improvements since yesterday. I feel I still have more to give . I will try it out tomorrow”.

Dani Pedrosa – P10

“Today has been a bit difficult because I had some pain on my left hand after yesterday’s crash. I had to be a bit careful and couldn’t ride perfectly. Still, we tried to do our best and, in the end, managed to complete some work on the bike’s setup and on the tyres. We didn’t try a lot of things as I couldn’t lap at length every exit. Anyway, let’s see if I can recover more for tomorrow and if we can do better. We still have things we would like to try because the conditions here change a lot from daylight to night time and we need to do some more test.”

Valentino Rossi – P11

“The position is not so fantastic at the end, because during the time attack I had some problems with the front tyre, so I couldn’t do it. In the end, I’m quite a bit behind, but the pace is not so bad on average. We worked a lot today and tried to understand, because we had some issues, especially with the front tyre. After a few laps I started to lose some grip. It looks like, in these conditions, it will be difficult to finish the race with a good pace, so we still need to work tomorrow and try to improve this.”

Aleix Espargaro’ – P12

“We have to be happy. We are making progress and working hard. I still don’t feel like I’m at my best braking, but overall I am satisfied with the way the tests are going. We are struggling to take full advantage of the new tyre for a fast lap, but we are competitive in terms of pace. I am very curious to see my race simulation tomorrow and what the others will do in order to have a more concrete idea of what our potential could be over race distance. As for what we’ve seen up to now, and counting on improving more, I think that we will be able to demonstrate a good pace.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P13

“Unfortunately I had a really small crash where I lost the front at the corner. I escaped unhurt and the team did a great job and repaired the bike very quickly. Finally by the end of the day we improved the lap time of yesterday and the feeling with the bike is getting better and better. But there are still many things we can improve for corner entry and also the grip on the tyre. I think we have made another step forward, hopefully we can go another tenth fastest tomorrow.”

Jorge Lorenzo – P14

“Today was quite a complicated day for me: at the start a light rain conditioned the first few hours of the test but then we were not able to be competitive in normal conditions. In the early afternoon, when it’s still warm, the times come quite easily, but when the temperature drops I’m lacking confidence in the front tyre and am not able to be fast. We still have a few ideas to test tomorrow to try and resolve this problem and prepare for the GP of Qatar in the best possible way.”

Scott Redding – P15

“Today we weren’t focusing on lap times, but we worked to prepare for the final long run. I had done one in Thailand that did not satisfy me, whereas here, despite starting later than race time, things went rather well. The times and the easy ride satisfied me, although there is still work to be done in order to increase the edge grip. I used a soft tyre on the rear, which is new for me, and I was surprised at how good condition it was in at the end and how my feeling improved lap after lap.”

Tito Rabat – P17

“I’m happy because today once again we improved our race pace and every time I have better feeling with the bike. In the end perhaps we went in the wrong direction, because we decided to try the bike without winglets and I crashed again. But overall the day was good and in with race settings we are quite fast and the tyre life is quite good. For tomorrow the goal is to improve the fastest lap a bit, if we manage to do that I’ll be happy. We have some ideas of where we can improve and we’ll see how it goes. Tomorrow will be an important day because it will be the last test day before the season finally starts here in Qatar”.

Karel Abraham – P18

“Today wasn’t bad, especially in the beginning, but unfortunately later on we had some little problem with the first bike and I had to jump on the second one and to be honest I wasn’t really happy with it, even though the set-up was the same. I couldn’t improve my lap time on it but overall we have gone a little bit faster, so the goal is to go faster again tomorrow and improve the lap time. Today we were supposed to complete a race simulation but we didn’t manage to do that so that’s moved to tomorrow’s schedule.”

Franco Morbidelli – P19

“The second day here in Qatar is going pretty well. We’ve made some improvements compared to yesterday, which is good. Unfortunately yesterday we weren’t able to use the soft tyre properly; today we are working to improve both our pace and feeling with the medium compound tyre. So far in testing we haven’t made any big changes to the set up of the bike, but we want to try a few things tomorrow, to see if we can reduce the tendency for the bike to wheelie, which makes it very physical to ride. Overall it has been another good day on the bike and I hope we can continue to improve tomorrow.”

Álvaro Bautista – 20

“I finished up quite happy yesterday but today we had less grip on both the front and the rear and the feeling was not the same. Yesterday the medium tyres were working well but today we struggled and we switched to the soft. We are missing something with the base set-up of the bike and its performance depends a lot on the conditions. I did a race simulation of more than twenty laps and the pace wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as it could have been. We still have tomorrow left and we have a few ideas to try. We think that in trying to fix the rear grip issue we have compromised in other areas and now we have to spend more time in the corner with the bike at full lean. We need to find the right balance for this bike.”

Hafizh Syahrin – P21

“I’m very happy with the progress we made today. We have a good base and now started to try more new things on the bike, like trying to manage the tyres, plus trying to understand all the electronics, today especially the traction control. As I’m a MotoGP beginner, I still need to learn a lot. The team work today was very good and we managed to close the gap to all the other rookies, even if I’m just in the middle of my second test. We hope to continue this fantastic development tomorrow.”

Tom Lüthi – P22

“It was a bit of a waiting game at the start because of the little bit of rain we had, but we eventually got out on track and managed to get some work done. For me it’s still about going out, learning lap by lap, exit by exit because I still have a lot to learn, but we’re definitely going in the right direction and improving step by step. We’ve seen some improvements; not with anything specific but with a little bit of everything. At the moment for me it’s not a case of overcoming one problem, but more about bringing everything together, the set up, the riding style so I feel more comfortable on the bike. Now I have more feeling, but I’m still far away from having the same confidence in the front as I did in Moto2, so I need more laps. But, overall, I’m happy to have made a step forward again today.”

Xavier Simeon – P23

“Today was much more positive and I’ve been able to improve my lap times quite a lot. I found myself much better and more confident with the front tyre. To be honest the tyres never gave me bad feelings, but I have to understand well where I can push more. I improved a lot in braking and also the entry into the corner, which allowed me to be more consistent and have better pace, because with that I gained a corner and I can lift the bike before to get stronger. I’ve also done a race simulation and the pace has not been bad. It is clear that we have much to improve, but I am happy to be the first. Tomorrow we must continue on the same line”.

Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“Today we can say that we worked more with the race in mind – thinking about race preparation. Of course it’s very nice that Andrea made a great lap at the end of the session, and it’s always nice to be on the top! Both Andrea and Alex were in the Top 5, and this is a good sign. The riders did many laps with good pace, so we are happy about that. We’ll try to finish well tomorrow, with some long runs, and I hope we’ll be ready…it looks like we’re in good shape at the moment and we will continue to work hard.”

Andrea Iannone topped the second day of MotoGP #QatarTest at Losail

Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“The second day of testing is over and we got a lot of work done, trying quite a few things. The riders didn’t have the same feeling as they had on Day 1. They suffered from a lack of grip, so this compromised their results during their time attack efforts. Nevertheless, both riders seem to be able to carry a consistent pace. We still have work to do tomorrow, because there are still areas where we want to improve. Tomorrow we also want to do some longer runs, to focus on the bikes’ handling with a full tank and better the tyre life.”