2020 MotoGP Round Two – Jerez
Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía

MotoGP riders reflect on the race

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Fabio Quartararo – P1

“It was a tough race. To complete 25 laps in front in these temperatures made it the hardest race of my life! My hands and feet were so hot and there was just no air to cool you down. I felt really good on the bike though. Even though we are at the same circuit as last week, the conditions are different and we had to adapt so quickly to this. The first time I saw the gap to Valentino was 0.6secs, I thought that it was time to push. Then on one lap I looked back in Turn 6 and couldn’t believe the advantage that I had pulled out. At this point I knew I had to keep calm and just finish the race. I’m so happy to have another victory, especially in a race as tough as this one. It was also amazing to be on the podium with Valentino because he has been my idol for so long. I just want to say a massive thanks to my team, Yamaha, partners, my family, my friends, my manager and all the fans for their support.”

Maverick Vinales – P2

“Actually, in this race it was impossible to breathe. First of all, in the first lap I tried to overtake Fabio to get the clear track, because I felt very strong with the bike, but then I went wide and Fabio and Vale overtook me. Then I was stuck behind Vale, and I couldn‘t breathe most of the laps, I was destroyed. I don‘t know why, maybe because of the heat coming from the other bikes, but I couldn‘t do more. I was saving something for the last five laps, and I pushed at the end when I had a good rhythm again. I mean, today I lost it in the first lap, if not it would have been a much better race.”

Valentino Rossi – P3

“I‘m very happy because it‘s been a long time since I was on the podium. We‘re coming back from a bad period with bad results. So this weekend we started working in another way. I‘m very happy with the work David Muñoz did, and the rest of my team also did a good job. I was able to make a good lap at the start, and after that the race was so long. But I‘m happy to be back on the podium. For me it‘s not quite like a victory, but it‘s similar.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P4

“We were so close to the podium, I think to Valentino (Rossi) and the podium it was just five tenths, but I’m still pretty happy. For all 25 laps of the race I gave my full potential, the bike felt really good and for all the race we were fighting close to the podium. It was difficult and I really struggled to find grip, but it was the same for everyone. The team did a really great job all weekend and the bike improved a lot from last weekend. I hope we can keep going in this direction, we have a few days to rest and then we go on to Brno and hopefully we can get a podium as soon as possible.”

Joan Mir – P5

“I’m very happy with what I managed to do; the team deserved a good result. When I was on track I felt that today could’ve been ‘podium day’ because I wasn’t far from it, and I saw a lot of other riders struggling or dropping out for various reasons. I think we did a really good race – and in the end I was only a little more than two seconds behind a podium place, so that’s good news. It was tough today because we didn’t have much information from last weekend to help us. But overall, I’m happy with my good and consistent pace.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P6

“It’s been a tough two weeks for us here in Jerez, but the good thing is that they have allowed us to gather useful information that we can analyze for the future. This morning we managed to find a good rhythm in the warm-up, but the conditions this afternoon were different. Also, in the race, I had a problem that I’d never had before during the weekend: in the middle of the corner, as soon as I let go of the brakes, I couldn’t feel the front, and it was like that from the first laps of the race. That’s why I couldn’t force too much, and I preferred to stay in the position I was without taking any risks. Surely if I had started closer to the front, I could have done better. Now we will have to be good at interpreting all the inputs received in these two weeks to prepare well for the race weekend in Brno.”

Pol Espargaro – P7

“A lot of things happened! It was not like last week’s race. I almost crashed at the beginning when I touched Petrucci’s rear wheel and I lost some positions. I had to fight to recover the ground and pushed a lot but then I was really suffering in the heat. Last week was not too bad but today I almost couldn’t continue. The bike is performing very well and normally Jerez is one of the toughest circuits for us. We’ve seen other manufacturers struggling but the team did great and we’ve been able to show some of the improvements that everybody in the factory has been working towards in the winter. For sure we were expecting a bit more today, but we’ve been gaining points and we’re equal fourth in the championship.”

Alex Marquez – P8

“Second race in MotoGP and well, I’m quite happy! We clearly made a decent step compared to last weekend and this was our main target. Two races in a row at the same track gives us a good opportunity to try things and make a step and we took advantage of that. Our race was nine seconds faster than last weekend, which is already a good improvement given the conditions today. We’ve made a good step and have a good base as well. Now it’s time to head to Brno, one of my favourite tracks and I’m looking to make another step with three races in a row. It has been a good start, but there’s more to come!”

Johann Zarco – P9

“A 9th position is always a good result to take. Compare last week, I got an improvements and still the race has been anyway difficult. I had a good feeling at the beginning, but few tenths was missing during three or four laps, defining the possibility to go on a low 39 or a high 38. This has been even a better race, I have to manage some mistakes that I did during the race that sometimes make you crash. I have finished on a nine position, the results are coming and giving all time the best is the only way to understand the things. It has been firsts two week pretty good, now we are going to Czech Republic, I hope that I will take all this information and doing it even better in Brno. I think the Ducati will have some more advantages on a bigger track so I look forward to see our lever on Czech Republic.”

Alex Rins – P10

“The race was unbelievable; I was already suffering from the moment I joined the grid before the start. I got an incredible start but as the laps went on I started to feel more and more pain. With seven laps to go, it was really tough to continue; but after all the work that I’ve done since last weekend, as well as the doctors and my team, I just wanted to keep going. I never lost my faith and it allowed me to take this 10th place. I’ll continue with my recovery and hope to be on much better form for Brno.”

Tito Rabat – P11

“Today we have done a good start, I went well until turn 6, where I went outside because I did not brake and I had more riders ahead. As for race pace, well, but with respect our teammate we are missing two tenth per lap, which I have to find. Today was a physically important test, which we finished well. Now the important thing is to rest and think about the next race in Brno”

Bradley Smith – P12

“In this second race, we made some progress, especially in managing to contain the gap with the rider ahead of me. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of time on the first corner, having to slow down a lot to avoid the fallen riders. I made the smartest choice, without taking pointless risks. It was a pity because I would have liked staying in the group. One of the positive aspects is certainly the fact that we were able to finish both races without any serious problems and I know that the guys already have some solutions ready to solve some of the issues that came out during these two weekends.”

Cal Crutchlow – P13

“Today obviously was a very tough day, but we managed to complete the race with a little pit-stop in the middle! Once I started the race I got caught up in the first corner and lost some positions with the crash of another couple of riders, but I did my best. Unfortunately, my right arm was taking the brunt of the force from my left wrist injury and I was struggling to hold on to the bike and it became dangerous, so I decided to pull into the pit as I thought I was out of the point-scoring positions, because due to the pain it was difficult to see the pit board. But then when I came in, they said I was in the point-scoring positions as many people had pulled out, so I went back out and finished the race in 13th and made sure I wasn’t close to any other riders and just got some points. It was a difficult race, but one we’re glad to finish and get out of here and go to Brno.”

Jack Miller – DNF

“I had problems overtaking the Yamaha, I tried to overtake Vinales when it wasn’t so fast and when I finally did, I had to push hard and unfortunately, I lost grip and I crashed. I can’t complain, I made a mistake, but we will come back to Brno stronger.”

Pecco Bagnaia – DNF

“I can’t complain after a weekend like this. We worked really well, we were fast and really competitive. Unfortunately a technical problem didn’t allow us to finish the race but we will arrive to Brno more stronger than ever.”

Franco Morbidelli – DNF

“I didn’t have a great start and so I had to fight my way back through the pack, but I was able to do so quite comfortably. I was feeling great on the bike, the feeling was amazing and I thought it was a great opportunity to get an excellent result, maybe even the podium. We had a really good race pace. Then the mechanical failure happened and the bike stopped, but that’s racing. It happens sometimes. We don’t know what caused the problem, but the team and Yamaha engineers are looking into it. Now we take the positives from this weekend and the previous one, where we had consistent race pace, and focus our energies on Brno.”

Danilo Petrucci – DNF

“I am sorry about how the race went today because we could have got a good result. I did not expect the crash also because I don’t think I was doing a risky manoeuvre: probably the tyres were already worn out, and I dared too much. I was chasing Dovizioso when I suddenly slid out at turn two. Now my goal is to get back fighting for the top positions, and I hope to be able to do so already in the next race, on a race track a little more favourable to the characteristics of our Ducati.”

Brad Binder – DNF

“Today definitely did not go to plan and the worst thing was that I destroyed the race for Miguel. He’d had a great weekend up until then and I’m sure he would have had a strong race. Really sorry about that. I had a good start and I didn’t see Danilo on the inside and when I picked up it was already too late: I couldn’t avoid Miguel. When I saw the crash I was really worried so I’m glad he’s OK. After that my race was already difficult. I tried my best to track my way through the field. I kept working and pushing and coming into the last corner I tucked the front and I tried to pick it up but it gripped and highsided. Luckily I’m OK and we’ll try again next time.”

Miguel Oliveira – DNF

“It was a disappointing end of this weekend for sure. After seeing the race, I could have been easily in the top 5 or even on the podium, I would risk to say, so it’s just disappointing not even having been able to start the race with the incident in the first corner. I was just an unlucky guy in this position, but there was really nothing I could do to avoid the crash. It was the first corner, everyone wants to gain positions, so it’s normal that sometimes we misjudge braking points and we are too optimistic. But we have more races this year, it’s not the end of the world. We take the positives from this weekend and we continue on to the next one.”

Iker Lecuona – DNF

“I just need to say sorry to the team! This start of the season hasn’t been easy for us so far. Last week, I was fighting with the temperatures. In the race today, I don’t know why, but the bike felt a bit different than before. I was fighting a lot with Alex Marquez. We passed each other two or three times on the same lap. Finally, my lap time was better, so I tried to catch up with the guys in front of me. I did one mistake and tried to push again, but finally I lost the front. I saved two or three crashes on each lap, so it was truly difficult. I still want to repeat, that I’m very sorry for my team. I know, that they are pushing very hard all the time. We will try to improve in Brno.”

Aleix Espargaro – DNF

“There isn’t much to say. I’m disappointed and sorry for the team who, after many hours of hard work, did not have the satisfaction of finishing the race. I had a good start, but in order to maintain the pace with my rivals, apparently I need to take more risks and ride very close to the limit, especially in mid-turn to help acceleration. I know that starting the season with two DNFs isn’t the greatest, but I always go into the races giving 100% to take Aprilia to a position to battle with the best.”

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Team Managers

Razlan Razali – Petronas SRT Yamaha Team Principal

“Another great weekend for us. It was a great redemption for John McPhee who raced very smartly this weekend. Second is a good result for him and now he is in third position and only ten points behind the leader in the standings. I’m very happy for him. KIP improved and we expect him to do a lot better in subsequent races. We hope that he’s learned from this weekend and will be able to do better in the Czech Republic. We were very satisfied with Xavi’s eighth position; it shows that he has what it takes. Apart from the problems with his bike, he’s done very well today. Unfortunately for Jake he was pushing too hard this weekend, but I’m sure he will pick it up at the next race at Brno. It was another fantastic win for Fabio in MotoGP! These back-to-back victories put him at the top of the championship standings. It’s very unfortunate for Franky as I think it could have been a one-two for us today, but we need to see what the problem was. We feel so sorry for him because he was strong all weekend and deserved a good result. Even so, it was still an awesome weekend because of the back-to-back wins and leading the championship. Now we just have to try to do it all over again in Brno!”

Lin Jarvis – Managing Director Yamaha Racing – Monster Yamaha Team Principal

“Obviously, I‘m extremely happy to have this lockout podium with three Yamahas in the top 3 today, that‘s fantastic. It‘s great to see Valentino bounce back after a very difficult first weekend here in Jerez, and to come back this week and arrive on the podium is a really great achievement. Maverick, at the same time, gave a very solid performance. Two times in a row he came second, so 40 points for him in the first two weekends is a great result. Fabio won his first Grand Prix in the previous weekend and showed again today that he is on top form at the moment. Having three M1-riders finish on the podium is of course an exceptional result. We have a lot of work ahead of us to maintain our lead in the championship, but we‘re on the right path.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“First of all, both our riders deserve a pat on the back and our full respect. Today‘s conditions were so tough, both on the riders and the bikes, and Maverick and Valentino really had to go all out, riding on the absolute limit of what‘s humanly possible. We are very happy to have both of them on the podium. It‘s especially nice because it‘s been a while since Valentino got to enjoy the view from the rostrum, and to do it in such a difficult race just underlines how he‘s still at the top of his game. I‘m sure Maverick would have liked to fight for the win, but today that was just not in the cards for us. We have to congratulate Fabio on his win – it‘s a Yamaha 1-2-3 today! This is very encouraging for everyone who was involved in preparing for the 2020 season start. I think today’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place was the best way for us to thank all the people involved in Yamaha’s MotoGP project. We now have gained good momentum, and we hope to keep it going in Brno in two weeks‘ time.”

Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Race Manager

“The weekend in general was very positive and we were very optimistic for the race but this is how the sport is sometimes. It was sad to see Miguel and Brad out of the running on the first corner but we have seen many problems at this turn over the years. Brad pushed and showed great speed again until he went a bit too hard into the last corner. We’re happy the riders are all fit and can go to Brno without any problems. Pol is up to 5th in the championship now and we saw that many bikes had serious problems in the conditions but we were able to finish. We’ll take this 7th position as a positive and we worked hard for it. We’ll go to Brno hoping for another good week.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“Today I’m really happy. We couldn’t show all our potential, but the riders did the best they could do for now. I want to say thank you to Alex, who fought today despite being in pain, it was great that he finished the race in 10th. Also thank you to Joan for a solid race and points. Next we’ll go to Brno, where Alex will be physically much better. We’ll try for the podium with both our riders. I’m looking forward to it.”

Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“I have to say thank you very much to Alex for the amazing effort he put in following the serious injury he got last weekend. Staying on the bike for 25 laps in this heat is very hard, and he really deserved the 10th place finish. We saw a lot of people crashing, and it was a very hard race for everyone. Joan took a good step.”

Hervé Poncharal – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“The second weekend in Jerez was clearly not a weekend for us. After the disappointment of MotoE and the Moto3 we were really hoping that the MotoGP class would give us what I believe “we deserve” after such a strong weekend working hard and got our best ever Qualifying with Miguel. The start was good, but unfortunately Brad Binder, who was pushed wide by another rider took us out. We always say you can never win in the first corner, but you can lose everything in the first corner and this is what happened. It’s a big shame, because all of us we were working very well, the four KTM riders – Factory Team and Tech3 – worked together. We pushed for the KTM company to show how great the progress is, we’ve made and today was a great day to show that KTM is now a potential podium finisher. When I see the pace, I really believe that we could have been very close to a podium, a top 5 was a high possibility. But with “if” you do a lot of things. Fact is, Miguel was taken out after less than 10 seconds and there was nothing he could do. I’m very disappointed, for Miguel, who did an excellent job, for his crew, who did an excellent job, too and for KTM, who is working incredibly well and I’m more than eager to show the progress we are making. Today we couldn’t show it, we did it yesterday, but not today. On our second rider, right now, I don’t have any words, because we’ve been crashing on Friday, we’ve been crashing on Saturday. I had a conversation with Iker last night, that I believe was quite clear and he crashed again after a few laps. On the grid, we told him ‘Take it easy, stay calm and try to see the flag.’ He’s a rookie, he’s got to learn and you don’t learn by crashing and not finishing the race. I’m very disappointed for his side, as well. Anyway, this is zero points for the team in the MotoGP World Championship. It was a great weekend in performance for KTM, but no results. We know this is part of racing, but we just hope the future will be a bit easier. Sometimes we just need a bit of better fortune.”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager

“This has been an extremely exhausting weekend with the high temperatures, it has been on average five or six degrees higher than last weekend and this has of course made a difference to the track and that also alters the performance of our tyres. As temperatures rise, grip from the track decreases, but the compounds we chose ahead of these two weekends were able to perform at the highest standard and give the riders what they needed. We were again delighted to get the outright lap-record and for the race to be quicker than last week, obviously with this being a new event, it’s the first Andalucía Grand Prix, we set new records for everything, but there was also the chance to compare directly with last week’s race at the same circuit and we also recorded a faster race lap. These are all good indicators of the grip and performance of the new rear construction slick tyre and shows that even in the toughest of conditions we have tyres that work and give the riders confidence. MotoE was another good race and we had a new winner, so congratulations to Dominique Aegerter on his first MotoE victory. The tyres had to work extremely hard this weekend as well. We saw 60°C on-track for the E-pole, but the riders had the grip they needed and set some fast times. The use of the new bio-materials has created a different type of tyre, but the performance is better than it was last year, so all the riders are feeling the benefits of the sustainable tyres that we are now supplying them.”

MotoGP Race Results

MotoGP Championship Points Standings

Source: MCNews.com.au