MotoGP 2019 – Round 11

Red Bull Ring – Austria – Quotes

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Andrea Dovizioso – P1

“Today I’m so happy, because this victory was really important for me. Towards the end of the race I had good right-side grip on the tyre and this allowed me to successfully attempt that incredible overtaking move at the final corner. My strategy for the race was to be aggressive right from the opening lap, but Marquez was more aggressive than me. He immediately tried to impose his rhythm but I was always able to respond and in the final stages I think he had more wear on his tyres than me so I could stay right on his tail until the end, and attempt that crazy passing move on him at the final corner. I want to thank Ducati and my team because today we did everything just perfectly.”

Marc Marquez – P2

“I’m happy because today we made a mistake with the rear tyre, immediately I saw all the soft tyres had better grip and even their consistency at the end was better than us. Even like this I tried because I’m Marc and I need to try! The second place is good, we missed in the last corner with a lot of sliding but Dovi did an incredible job. Still we are able to leave here with a 58-point lead so we will keep continuing like this. Even when we are not in the best shape, we are able to finish like this which is positive overall.”

Fabio Quartararo – P3

“We never expected to be able to finish on the podium at this track, but I managed to get a good start and when Marc [Marquez] and Andrea [Dovizioso] went a little bit wide it let me through. The first five laps in the lead were the most difficult. Taking the soft tyre was a bet, but we learned many things in this race and it paid off. I knew that the leaders could always push each other wide or something, so I tried to push all race to stay close to them just in case – and I hope that next time I can be in the fight for the win with them!”

Valentino Rossi – P4

“Fourth place is a good result after a quite good weekend. On paper we should have suffered more in Spielberg, but already on Friday morning we were more competitive here than we were in the past. The race was good because at the beginning I was able to recover some positions, coming from tenth on the grid. Unfortunately, the guys in front of me were a bit faster. Anyway, fourth place is good. Maverick and Rins were also recovering momentum, but I was able to stay in front of them, so it was a good race.”

Maverick Viñales – P5

“I made a good start, but in Turn 3 I got in a scrap with Jack Miller and we ran a bit wide and that opened the door for many riders. We used a completely different set-up compared to other races, trying to reduce wheelspin, but it worked out differently than we thought because the track had changed so much compared to yesterday. I don‘t think it was the best set-up, but we chose it thinking we could maybe solve some problems. The consumption of the tyre was very high, so I destroyed the tyre very quickly. Anyway, I‘m pleased with fifth position, because we improved a lot compared to last year and we will keep working and trying to find a way to go faster. This weekend was just a trial run. In Silverstone I don‘t want to pay too much attention to what happened in Brno and Austria. It‘s a track I really like, and I will go for it 100%.”

Alex Rins – P6

“This race was really difficult for me, I suffered under braking. But our target was to improve my result compared to last year and we managed to do that. In 2018 I finished 8th here, and today I was 6th. I also narrowed the gap in the points standings. I always try to give my maximum at every race, and I’m motivated for the next round. I really enjoy Silverstone so I’m keen to arrive there.”

Pecco Bagnaia – P7

“It’s been a good weekend. In Brno we did a great job and this helped us a lot. This is a great result, the best of the season. We have reduced the gap from the leaders. The feeling is very positive. We must continue in this direction to be consistent until the end of the season.”

Miguel Oliveira – P8

“It was a great race today! Apart from the start, where we had some issues, so I couldn’t go as fast as I wanted to. But the rest was quite funny, many overtaking. My pace was very good, as we saw yesterday already. I’m quite happy about this result, this first top 10 for me and for the team with the KTM bike. I’m really glad and I think we deserve this result, after we’ve been working really hard, understanding the bike and everyone has been very good at helping me, so I think this is a decent payback to KTM here in their home GP, being in top 10 and first KTM in the race, which is very positive for us. Now we go with a good feeling to Silverstone.”

Danilo Petrucci – P9

“It was a complicated race: unfortunately, at the first turn I got bottled in and then after a couple of laps I was involved in Crutchlow’s crash. I lost a lot of positions and had to get back up the field, pushing hard on the tyres and after half the race I didn’t have anything left to offer. Pity because this weekend was a missed opportunity, especially yesterday when I made a mistake in qualifying and this conditioned everything. I’m sorry for the team, who worked as hard as they could: now we have to press the reset button after these two races and look ahead positively to Silverstone.”

Franco Morbidelli – P10

“We struggled this weekend. I couldn’t be as strong in braking as the other Yamahas, and I couldn’t send the bike into the corner the way I wanted to. This was better in the race, and I was able to be decently fast for some laps in the race. We’ll work to understand why this was happening though, and aim to come back stronger next time out at Silverstone. We’ll make a plan based on what we’ve learned and what we know, and see how it goes.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P11

“Of course I’m disappointed to finish outside the top 10. From the beginning, I really struggled with the feeling of the front of the bike, especially on the edge grip. It was my choice and we raced with the harder compound on the front and the soft on the rear. During the weekend this combination was really working well, but race conditions were quite a bit cooler after the rain, so it was different conditions to free practice. This was a negative for the feeling, especially the front and when I was turning I really struggled to find grip. So my lap times were a bit slower than I expected, but until the middle of the race I just tried to maintain P8. By the end I was not able to keep the pace because the rear tyre was dropping and the front tyre also. Of course I’m disappointed, especially with the second part of the race so we have to try and understand why we struggled so much. One problem was the choice of the hard front tyre, but that was my decision.”

Johann Zarco – P12

“From the start I was good; from the first three-four corners on that track and in the group is always very tricky. It was nice to feel that adrenaline and control it. I could see the group of four riders ahead and was really hoping to catch them. I expected to have a second breath and a good pace until the end of the race. The pace remained very constant but I was not fast enough. I’m not disappointed but I am cannot say I am super-happy because I was twelfth. I felt it was the best I could do.”

Stefan Bradl – P13

“The target was to finish in the points after a difficult weekend for me, especially with qualifying. So to finish in 13th is quite a good result considering we started from the back of the grid and had the weather against us this morning. We weren’t able to test what we wanted to in Warm Up due to the rain so being in the points is a happy end. Thanks to the Repsol Honda Team for all their support during these races and to HRC as well, we have achieved a lot.”

Aleix Espargaro’ – P14

This weekend, we were unable to be as competitive as we would have liked. I gave it my all in the race. I started well, but after a few contacts on turn 3, I found myself in “last place. I made up a few positions, but it wasn’t easy to overtake. I tried to finish the race without making any mistakes. This track was one of the most difficult for us. We are confident that we will be more effective already at Silverstone.”

Karel Abraham – P15

“It is good to get a point, although it was not the best race of the season. I tried to be fast from the beginning, but the start has not been good and, although i was with a group, from the first third of the race i had problems with the rear tire. From there on, I could not do anything, just try to finish the race. We deserve the point because we have not crashed and we have managed to be on the bike until the end.”

Andrea Iannone – P16

“We did not exactly finish the race in the best way, but I am happy about the sensations I had in the saddle throughout the weekend. I rode to my full potential and “ the result is not the one we had expected. It’s a pity about the problem in the final clearlylaps, because I was right there with Aleix and Stefan Bradl and I had the potential to take some points.”

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Jack Miller – DNF

“I’m disappointed because if I’m to be honest, I felt like I had the podium in my hand. I tried to attack Quartararo and the feeling was very positive. Unfortunately I made a mistake and my race was over. It’s a shame because we did a great job this weekend and for that I thank my team.”

Cal Crutchlow – DNF

“Obviously today we were really disappointed with what we can’t even call a result. I only managed just over a lap of the race, I was unfortunate to be caught up in an incident when Pol Espargaro’s bike stopped and the rider in front of me (Tito Rabat) hit the back of Pol and evidently I hit the back of Rabat. It was really slow speed when I hit him, his bike hit my handlebar and just took me down. I was feeling quite positive for the race and felt we could have got a good result here, so it’s a disappointing way to end and not get information from a valuable race that I thought we could learn good lessons from. But that’s the way racing goes sometimes and we now have to look forward to my home Grand Prix at Silverstone.”

Tito Rabat – DNF

“It has been a weekend in which we have gone from less to more. We managed to improve the setting and made a decent classification (15th) and in the race we made a good start from where I tried to follow the leading riders. When I tried I made a couple of mistakes and when I tried to brake hard it hurt my wrist and I had to jump from the motorcycle just before reaching the wall. It’s a shame but we had a positive weekend.”

Pol Espargaro – DNF

“I felt a problem with the engine and these bikes are so complex now that when the sensors find an issue they stop completely. Luckily when it happened I was just overtaking [Takaaki] Nakagami on the inside so I could just pick up. It’s a shame. We were in the top ten all weekend and with the race pace in FP4 we showed good potential. We chose the same tyre and strategy as Miguel and it was the correct one. Miguel was fast all weekend so congratulations to him and it’s great there was a KTM in the top ten. I just want to think about Silverstone, that’s all I have on my mind right now.”

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Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager

“I believe that today we saw one of the best and most exciting races of the last few years. It was a fantastic and fair duel that saw Dovi put together an amazing final lap and a masterstroke in the last two corners, so my sincerest congratulations go out to Andrea. A difficult qualifying session and a bad start on the other hand clearly affected Danilo’s race because it’s never easy to recover on this track.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Petronas Yamaha Team Manager

“I was really worried about this weekend, but Michelin brought a rear tyre that suited the Yamaha a lot better than those we’ve had in the last couple of years. It shows with the third, fourth and fifth places from Fabio, Valentino [Rossi] and Maverick [Viñales]. For Fabio to be able to beat them is like a dream, even if he was lucky at the start of the race to be in the right spot when Marc [Marquez] made a mistake. Fabio was able to run to his own rhythm early on, then he was smart enough to switch to a safer electronic map and save the tyres to the flag. A top ten with Franco is also good for the team. He struggled a little bit to find feeling with the bike and we know this track is a difficult one for him.”

Razlan Razali – Petronas Yamaha Team Principal

“It’s been an amazing weekend, with podiums for both John and Fabio. We’re very happy with the results, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to take it easy now, and we’ll continue to work hard in the upcoming rounds. There’s still nine rounds to go, and hopefully Franky and Ayumu can come back strong too, because we want all our riders at the front. On days like today, you feel excited and you feel blessed – but you always want more too. We want to do better every round, there’s very high expectations and we’re going to have to continue to work hard to meet them.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha Team Director

“We already predicted that the start would be fundamental for us today, because overtaking here is quite difficult. The race results really depended on where Vale and Maverick were positioned after the first lap. Valentino had a very good start and his determined work on race set-up this weekend paid off, especially in the early stages, allowing him to gain six places to take fourth. Maverick got the short end of the stick in the busy opening lap. He recovered well to fifth but lost some valuable time, which is a shame because he had the potential to fight for the podium. One important aspect is that we are 12 seconds faster than last year. To have three Yamahas in the top 5 shows that we’re consistently making progress. We will try to make a further step at the next Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“We couldn’t fight for the podium here today, but we can call ourselves satisfied because this track is not one of our best and we are pleased to get some good points and a top six finish. Thanks to Alex for the work he’s put in during this difficult weekend. It was strange for us to only have one rider here, and we’re looking forward to seeing Joan again at the next race.”

Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“In the end, Alex had a very good race and we performed better than we perhaps thought beforehand. We did struggle a bit here, but we were still able to meet the target of the top six. We’re looking forward to the next races, which will probably be more suited to our bike. We’ll be happy to have Joan back with us in Silverstone too, hopefully he will be able to recover in these next 10 days and be fully recovered. Let’s see what we can do there!”

Hervé Poncharal – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“Sometimes you see the light at the end of the tunnel and today clearly there was some good sunshine at the end of our tunnel. We have been working hard for a top 10 result and at the end, we could maybe have had this result a bit earlier, but today was just like a dream come true. This is the first time, Miguel got some upgraded parts that he can use in the race. This is the home Grand Prix for both, Red Bull and KTM and this is by far our best result of the season. We are very proud of what Miguel did. We are very thankful to KTM, because they never give up, they never stop working, they never stop supporting us and bringing new things and to be with a manufacturer like that is something that warms your heart. I think the whole team understands that. Clearly, the next step is to try to have a bit better Qualifying position, because we could see that from lap three, four, when the race started to establish itself, we had the pace of the group behind the first two. We almost did identical lap times like the guys from third to sixth position. I’m not saying we are going to be on the podium soon, but the next target is to try to qualify better in order to be with them and with the pace we have and the expertise Miguel is having in the race, I think we can be optimistic about the future. Clearly, the hard front tyre was a very good choice. It was a bit of a gamble, but great. All in all, I’m very proud of what Miguel did and what the whole crew did. On the other side, it’s another DNF, which is a bit worrying for me, because recently since the return from the summer break, Hafizh feels a bit nervous and maybe pushing beyond the limit. He has been taken to hospital for a check, as he had a small head concussion. Outside from that, he seems to be ok, so we are just waiting for him to come back. But clearly, I think we need to sit down with him and again, tell him that the most important is to be safe and to be finish the race. I think he had another possibility to score points, but it was another possibility waisted. Anyway, let’s concentrate on the positive feeling. Thanks to everybody, congratulations to Miguel, great result and great job from KTM! We keep on working!”

Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Team Manager

“It was an intense weekend and a busy time for the team but we managed it and the riders in a good way. The sessions went well for us and Pol went directly to the Q2 and this was positive but he had an electrical problem early in the race which was very painful because I’m sure he could have achieved a good result today. Luckily we could count on Miguel with a very good performance on our bike. He did great, and took his first single-digit result in MotoGP. We gave him some small updates after the GP in Brno and for the test and he translated it here into a good result. Johann made it into the points. Again we had some decent sessions but he could not enter into the same group as Miguel. 12th is not a wonderful result but it was a nice weekend overall and good to show many people from KTM what we are doing here. We want to go to Silverstone now and make a good result.”

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2019 Red Bull Ring MotoGP Race Results

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Source: MCNews.com.au