Round 15 – Thailand, Buriram International Circuit
Marc Marquez – P1
“I’m very happy. I’m so happy. When you have an advantage like I had you realise you are so close to the championship but you need to find something to keep you motivated. Today it was winning the race and it’s what I did. Fabio was so fast during the race but I never gave up, even during the middle of the race where it looked like he was escaping. It was a beautiful way to win the championship – even if I wasn’t thinking about it on the last lap! Arriving in parc ferme with the whole Repsol Honda Team there was fantastic; it’s a dream to do it with the whole fan club and the nice celebration. Every year is special, it’s not easy to keep everything perfect each year to fight for the title and I had a very hard winter with the injury but myself, the team and HRC managed it well. Now we’ll enjoy this feeling a little bit!”
Fabio Quartararo – P2
“It was an amazing race, thanks largely to feeling so comfortable with the bike from the very beginning. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish on the top step of the podium, but we were able to have another fight with the new world champion right to the last corner. It was an important race because we’ve made another step forward at a track that isn’t exactly perfect for us. Marc’s race pace in practice was three tenths of a second a lap faster than us, but we were able to battle with him. I gave it my all in the last corner because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep until the next race in Japan, and I can’t wait to head there next!”
Maverick Vinales – P3
“I’m happy, I’m feeling positive, and I accept the third place, but it’s not enough. We have to work harder and make another step. I noticed a difference between myself, Fabio, and Marc, especially in traction areas. But I was still able to hit good lap times and close the gap at the end of the race. This means we have some strong points, but we have to improve the weak points. When you have no traction and a full tank, it’s very difficult to get the lap times. As soon as the fuel went down a bit, I could carry a lot of corner speed and make the lap times again. I had a much better feeling in today’s Warm Up than I had during the race, so we need to understand this and improve for Japan.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P4
“It was rather a difficult race because unfortunately we weren’t able to improve enough in T3 and T4, where also in practice we were losing out to the frontrunners. It’s a pity, but I’d like to offer my congratulations to Marc and his team because they have had a spectacular season. We tried to fight against them but it just wasn’t sufficient, so now we’ll have to work even harder in view of next season”.
Alex Rins – P5
“Today’s result is important for the championship, because I managed to get up to 5th and get good points. It was difficult to over-take Dovizioso, but I’m pleased to have recovered some places from my grid position. I’m focused on the next race and bringing a good result to the Suzuki workers in Japan, and in front of all the fans.”
Franco Morbidelli – P6
“I’m quite satisfied with the race as it was another positive day for us. I made a good start and was able to fight for fourth until the last quarter of the race when I just started to struggle a little bit under braking. We’ve been on a good trend since Silverstone and I’ll try to keep that going in Japan. As always, there’s room to improve, especially if we look at what the other two Yamahas in front of us are doing, so we know what we have to do.”
Joan Mir – P7
“I’m really happy about the work we’ve done this weekend. We are getting closer to the top guys all the time. I struggled a bit with the heat today; my fitness is still suffering a bit after missing training during my injury. But I’m pleased to bring home 7th place. The atmosphere in Motegi is special, I want to do well there and take another step forward.”
Valentino Rossi – P8
“Unfortunately, I always have the same problem. After seven, eight, nine laps I started to suffer a lot with the rear tyre. It looks like we have a lack of grip on the rear, yet at the same time we stress the rear tyre more, so the rear tyre then loses performance. Unfortunately, I had to slow down. This race was very similar for me to the previous one, which means there’s a problem, because this is not our true potential. It’s a shame because this morning in the warm up we found more grip and I felt good, I was fast. My pace was not so bad, also with the used tyre it was good. But for the race, on the same tyre, but a new one, I had more problems. We need to improve and understand this, because we have four more races to go and we have to keep trying.”
Danilo Petrucci – P9
“Without doubt today I made a bit of progress compared to the last few races, but we’re still missing something to get back in and fight for the top five positions. That was also my target in this race but unfortunately in the early laps I wasn’t able to be quick enough and afterwards, even though I had a good pace, I was too far away from the group of riders ahead of me. In the end we took home a few points but it wasn’t the result I wanted: at Motegi in a fortnight my situation will have to change”.
Takaaki Nakagami – P10
“It was a really tough race, with tough conditions for everybody. The grip level on the track was quite nice and right from the start I felt I was able to go a bit faster and I overtook a few riders and got up to P11. Then I gave it my best on every lap and my lap times were really, really consistent. For the whole race (Francesco) Bagnaia was less than a second behind me so that made it tough. But we did our best and I’m quite happy with another top-10 finish. It’s important because the next race is my home GP, so I want to say thanks to my team who did a great job all weekend and I’m really looking forward to Motegi. I also want to congratulate Marc Marquez and HRC for their title victory today, they have done an incredible job all season.”
Pecco Bagnaia – P11
“It was a pretty good weekend because we’ve made progress. Unfortunately, it was a difficult race, conditioned by the starting position. I’m still confident. We are working hard and I consider this weekend a starting point for further improvement.”
Cal Crutchlow – P12
“Today was not a great result, but considering the first five laps of the race it was very difficult. I had a brake issue at the start of the race and I was unable to stop, so I had to figure out how to ride the bike with that front brake problem. Then, once I was alone and able to ride, I was able to pick riders off. So I lost a lot of time over the first laps of the race, but then I managed to ride my own race to grab a few points in what was a difficult race weekend. We know we need to improve as a team, and also myself, for the next race in Japan. We also have to give congratulations to Marc Marquez and Honda on the achievement of winning the championship and now we look forward to Japan.”
Pol Espargaro – P13
“Coming here with that injury we were not sure if I could do some laps on the bike but we did the practice, Q1 and Q2 and took three points in the race and I think that is more than enough in tricky conditions because the race was very hot and it was tricky to ride like this. I managed to finish, and Japan will be a different story, so I’m looking forward to going there.”
Jack Miller – P14
“It was my fault. There’s no excuse. I inadvertently turned off the bike and was forced to enter the pit lane. It’s a shame because we had done a great job over the weekend and we had the race pace to stay in the Top 5. We’ll try again in Japan.”
Andrea Iannone – P15
“I’m not pleased with the race. I struggled from the first lap in the initial part of the track. When I am in a slipstream, I’m able to limit the damage, but the lack of speed forces me to ride in a way that is less than ideal. This triggers a series of other problems, like stress to the front tyre or an increase of the temperatures, so it is an extremely limiting factor. At the moment, this is our biggest problem. I expect Aprilia to keep working to solve it. On my part, when I got out on the track, I will always be giving 100%.”
Miguel Oliveira – P16
“It was a really good race. I mean, my pace was very strong, just after midrace, I started to struggle with my shoulder, I was lacking power and just couldn’t brake so late to go fast. It’s a shame, because the pace was there. We were capable of doing a nice start. Anyway, we have to go on with this and recover as fast as possible. It’s just disappointing that this small detail delivered such a huge limitation, but I try to prepare myself as best as possible for Motegi.”
Tito Rabat – P17
“It was a difficult weekend. We suffered to find a good setup for the bike and the hard conditions of the race track did not help. We will try to do better in Japan.”
Jorge Lorenzo – P18
”First of all I want to say congratulations to Marc and the whole Repsol Honda Team, eight Word Championships is a very impressive achievement. On my side, it’s difficult to accept this result as it is very disappointing. I tried my best to be as fast as possible but in the warmer conditions I had trouble stopping and I found it difficult. We now look ahead to Motegi where we hope we can be stronger.”
Karel Abraham – P19
“It was a very difficult weekend as we expected. I’ve been riding in a group with Lorenzo and Shyarin, like 10 seconds behind Tito. Unfortunately, there wasn’t many crashes and that di not help us. I was with Lorenzo for most of the race until I had a problem with the bike, I had to release the throttle and then he went away and I was not able to catch him again even if I was recovering. I finished 19th but is has been a hard one, with a lot of heat and I ended with no energy.”
Hafizh Syahrin – P20
“It was a truly hard race. I don’t know what happened to the bike, because I had the feeling there was no power and surely due to the conditions also the engine was very hot. In the exit of the corners, I lost a lot compared to the rest of the riders, therefore, I was unable to benefit from any slipstream. I could just gain a bit of time on the brakes and in entry of the corners, but as soon as I picked up the bike, I lost out. I couldn’t push anymore, although I pushed more than 100%. It’s a pity, but I will keep my head up and fight again in Japan.”
Aleix Espargaro’ – DNF
“This weekend, we basically worked perfectly. On what may be the most difficult track for us, we found a good setting which let me battle with Petrucci without losing sight of the group ahead of us. Unfortunately, nine laps from the end, an electronic problem forced me to stop when we had the chance to bring home a good result. Evidently, luck is not on our side this year, but in the last few races, we have demonstrated that we can take advantage of the RS-GP at the limit.”
Mika Kallio – DNF
“Unfortunately it is never good to finish the weekend like that. What can I say? We had the expectation to catch some points and I was satisfied with the feeling I had in the first laps and could pass quite a few guys and get up to 16th but the crash was so early in the race. It seems on Sunday, when the tank is full, it helps me a bit better with the grip level. The target is to improve. Today I’m really disappointed. Motegi is next and it has always been quite good for me, somehow the layout always fits quite well to my riding.”
Team Managers
Yoshishige Nomura – HRC President
“Marc Marquez did a magnificent job once again to win his sixth MotoGP title on Honda’s 60th anniversary of World Grand Prix racing. I wholeheartedly salute his dauntless riding that mesmerizes his fans, supported by his persistent training and mature attitude towards racing. I’m grateful for all the support in winning the championship he had from the team staff, the many sponsors who support our racing activities, and MotoGP fans worldwide.”
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
“A podium is always positive, but we expected to be closer to the front. Maverick’s third place is for sure a good result, but considering our practice session performances we thought we could fight for the victory today. From Valentino’s side it was clear that it’s important to start more towards the first row of the grid if you want to challenge for front positions. That said, we have to analyse the data now after the race, because both riders suffered from a lack of grip, but in different ways. Again, Valentino experienced a severe drop of the rear tyre six laps into the race. Still, overall, it’s been a positive event for Yamaha. We were strong in all the sessions and there are two Yamahas on the podium. We will try harder in Japan in two weeks’ time at Yamaha’s home race.”
Razlan Razali – Petronas SRT Yamaha Team Principal
“What a race! Congratulations to Marc Marquez for his eighth World Championship. He really does set an exceptional benchmark. We were close today, so we are extremely happy with today’s second and sixth positions with Fabio and Franky. For us to be fourth in the Team Championship is fantastic, especially as we extended the margin as the leading Independent Team and Fabio extended his lead as the leading Independent Rider. In Moto2, Adam impressed as we gave him the target of finishing the race to gain experience, but he not only achieved this, but was able to make a good haul of positions too. In Moto3, John and Ayumu both had great pace. John was cruelly taken out of the race, whilst Ayumu was unfortunate to fall after having pushed so hard from the back of the grid. Our focus remains the same as we continue to the next round in Japan where we will be pushing hard to get that first MotoGP win which was so very close to being achieved today.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Petronas SRT Yamaha Team Manager
“Realistically, we’re a very proud team at the moment as leading the race for 25 laps is something we didn’t even think about at the start of the year. The last lap was an amazing show and it’s something for the team to be very proud of. A second and a sixth place means we’ve secured a lot of points today too, so let’s hope we’re able to keep that momentum going until the end of the year.”
Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager
“It’s a pity we couldn’t fight for the podium today, but Alex did well to gain five places back from grid. Joan’s target was to keep up a consistent pace and get a good finish, which he achieved. So, both riders did well today, even if we would have liked slightly higher positions, so we have to come back to fight for better positions as soon as possible.”
Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager
“In the end it’s been a positive day. Alex did a good job and recovered a lot of places, and it was difficult to get a better result in such a spread-out race considering the starting position. Joan had strong pace and he stayed with the top riders and fought well, so it was a positive step for him, especially as a rookie. We’re looking forward to going to Japan next, the home race for our factory.”
Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Team Manager
“It was quite a tough weekend for us because we had two riders who are not quite 100% fit. Pol did really well to start the Grand Prix just eleven days after surgery and we could not expect any more. We are happy that he was able to take at least three points for all the effort he made. Miguel is also not quite fit because of his right shoulder and at the end of the race he lost strength in his arm and had to slow the rhythm. This is not so good because he had the potential to get in the points as well. Mika had a crash in the beginning of the race while in the group and these things can happen. Overall we knew this would be a hard GP for us so we are just looking forward to Motegi where we’ll hopefully have the riders a bit fitter and we know that Mika will be motivated again.”
Hervé Poncharal – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager
“Overall, it was a quite positive weekend for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP team here in Thailand. It didn’t start really well with two crashes on Friday for Miguel, but we knew why and from then we worked quite well. Miguel showed some strong and consistent pace and we knew the race would be interesting. Tyre-wise everybody took the same options for front and rear, but we tried to conserve the rear tyre for the end of the race, in order to be strong, fighting towards the end. Unfortunately, the shoulder injury is not 100% recovered and clearly, the crashes didn’t help the recovery. I would say, the last third of the race was a lot of pain and no power on Miguel’s shoulder. This is a shame, because this is what cost us a few points. I think it would have been possible to stay close to Pol. Anyway, this is what it is. Plus, we got passed with one lap to go by Iannone and 16th is the worst position to finish a race, but let’s see the glass half full; Miguel is back, he has been riding well and hopefully two weeks will help the shoulder. Japan could be an even more exciting weekend. We were hoping for Hafizh to fight with the guys around him on the grid, but clearly after a few laps we understood that this was not the case. He was not far, but also never in contention to pass these guys and this is the end of another tough weekend. I would like to thank KTM for bringing a few upgrades for him, but apparently it hasn’t been helping him enough. The situation is not easy for him, but now we are going to Japan, which means his home Grand Prix is getting closer and I believe he needs to try a bit harder and to be a bit more focused on the race. Thailand was not a great weekend, but it was also not a bad one. Let’s have a few days off and see how we can regroup in Japan.”
Piero Taramasso – Michelin
“This has been a very impressive weekend Michelin, we broke every single record and showed that the tyres were able to push to the very limit for the whole race, so you could say mission accomplished, but we will not rest on our laurels, because we know we can improve here and we now have a lot more data after our second race visit to Buriram. When we come back next year it will be earlier in the season and conditions will be very different, so it was good that we were able to try all the tyres this weekend to see what worked to the optimum performance. With all the data we had from last year we had a compound for the front and rear that suited everyone and performed well in these particular conditions. We will now study the data so for next year we can have a more open choice, as that is what we always aim for, but from another point-of-view it is also a positive fact that all the riders found a single solution that they were every happy with for the rear and for the front. Well done to Marc on his fourth title, he is an incredible competitor and has shown amazing consistency this season. On behalf of Michelin I would like to send him congratulations on his fourth consecutive title with us.”
MotoGP Buriram Race Results/Championship Standings
Source: MCNews.com.au