MotoGP Round 14 Aragon

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Aragon MotoGP Rider Quotes

Marc Marquez – P1

“I was convinced about my strategy and what I had to do. I had a good feeling from when I left the box, so I knew I could push in the beginning and open a gap of four or five seconds and just keep it there, not pushing too much. I saw at one stage of the race that Viñales closed in a little, so I pushed a little more for two or three laps and I stabilised the advantage. It looked easy but it wasn’t, we have been working hard all weekend to find the limit. It was amazing to win here in front of our home fans so I have to say thank you to them all!”

Andrea Dovizioso – P2

“It was very important to get back onto the podium after the races at Silverstone and Misano, and so today I’m very happy, especially because of the way in which we were able to get this second place. I started tenth from the fourth row because of a mistake I made in qualifying yesterday, but I knew I had a good pace and on the grid we made the right choice of tyres, going for the soft rear. In the race I was constant right until the very end, I saved my tyres and managed to gain place after place until I could pass Jack and Maverick to finish the GP in second place”.

Jack Miller – P3

“It was a great race. I tried to stay close to Marquez in the early laps, then I had fun fighting with Quartararo, Dovizioso and Vinales. This is an important result for the team and for Ducati and I thank them for the extraordinary work they’ve done not only this weekend but since the beginning of the season.”

Maverick Viñales – P4

“I knew second place was possible today, so I pushed and pushed and pushed, but finally, in the last two laps, the tyre was very much on the limit. I tried my best. I nearly crashed two or three times because of the rear and thought ’OK, today I have to be fourth, that‘s the maximum‘. I‘m actually happy that I was very strong in the middle of the race. At the end I didn‘t have enough grip on the tyres to keep going, but I‘m once again the first Yamaha, which is important to us. I tried to close the door everywhere to Dovi, but in the end it was impossible, on the straight I stood no chance.”

Fabio Quartararo – P5

“Overall we did a really good job at Aragon and I’m pleased with the result because the goal was to finish inside the top five. We were just missing a little bit of grip in the left corners, and we need to analyse the data and see what happened. Our pace was good at the end but just not quite good enough to stay with the guys in front; I gave my 100% to try but I couldn’t manage it. We’re fighting for the top independent rider with Jack [Miller] and it’ll be good to carry that battle on through the overseas races. I’m looking forward to arriving in Thailand because it’s a track that I like even though it’s going to take hard work to be competitive there.”

Cal Crutchlow – P6

“I’m happy with that, I think today was a race we had to finish after last week’s disaster, so to come here and get a good result in Aragon, we’re happy with that. I just lost too much time, I got caught in some stupid battles on the first lap and then in the middle of the race I also ran off the track and lost another couple of seconds. I’m pleased with my pace overall, we didn’t think the race was going to be as fast as that for a start and we also held our pace throughout the race pretty well. I was able to make some good passes and get a top-six here in Aragon.”

Aleix Espargaro – P7

“Today’s result was good. The team and I gave 100% and we deserve it. At the start, with the fuel tank full, I didn’t have the best feeling with the front end, but things got better and better after a few laps. I had fun. Battling in the leading group is always nice, although the characteristics of the track undoubtedly helped us.”

Valentino Rossi – P8

“I knew yesterday it would be difficult to fight for the podium because three or four guys were faster than me, but today was worse because after some laps I had to slow down. I didn‘t have grip and I had some kind of problem with the tyres, it happened a little like it did in Silverstone. To me, it‘s not a problem of the tyres, it‘s our problem. We always struggle with the grip on the rear, and because of this lack of grip we also damage the tyre more, so in the end it was a very difficult race. It looks like everybody on the hard rear tyre had some problems, also the other Yamahas, but more towards the end. I started having problems earlier on. But I don‘t know if we could have done better on the soft, because during the practice the soft wasn‘t very good for our bike.”

Alex Rins – P9

“First of all, I want to say sorry to Franky for what happened. I went to see him directly after the race to apologise. It was a difficult day, I had a long lap penalty, which I completely accept, but I then I had to try and fight back through the pack. Anyway, 9th position isn’t too bad given everything that happened during the race. I need to try and improve my qualifying, let’s see what happens in Thailand.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P10

“It was really tough from the beginning. First of all, I had a big mistake at the start, a big wheelie which I did not expect because our start practice had gone well all weekend. So that made things tough, then I tried to overtake (Danilo) Petrucci but I wasn’t able to stop the bike and ended up going off the track, so I lost another two positions. I tried to come again and keep the pace until the end, but it was a long race because for many laps I was alone. In the end I was able to catch the top ten group, which was Petrucci (Andrea) Iannone and (Miguel) Oliveira, with about three or four laps to go. I did my best and in the end we got a top-10 which isn’t bad, but the pace wasn’t great so we still have room to improve the bike.”

Andrea Iannone – P11

“This weekend I had to grit my teeth and even in the race, the pain in my shoulder forced me to save my energy, especially when grip began to decrease. I am pleased with the team result, but we need to keep working hard, first and foremost, to reduce the gap in acceleration and top speed compared to Aleix. We can’t let this race fool us. This is a track that suits the Aprilia well and we still have a long way to go.”

Danilo Petrucci – P12

“It was a very difficult race for me. I tried for a bit to fight in ninth place because I didn’t have the pace of the frontrunners, but towards the end of the race I suffered a drop in the rear tyre and lost some places to finish twelfth. Probably the hard rear was not the best choice and I could do little else than limit the damage. Now we have a short break before leaving for Thailand and we will have to try and understand what is missing so we can get back to being as fast as we were in the first half of the season”.

Miguel Oliveira – P13

“It was a good race today, we had a decent fight with strong riders, which makes me happy. It was difficult to overtake, especially in the last laps, but I was there in this group, fighting. I thought we have the potential for a bit more today, but at the same time it was nice to finish the race like this after not scoring the last two rounds, so now I feel much calmer and more relaxed to approach the upcoming challenges.”

Joan Mir – P14

“The race didn’t work out how I expected at all, and I’m really disappointed about it. On the first laps I went wide several times and I sustained some damage to my bike. I kept trying to recover positions throughout the race and although I took points, this wasn’t the race that we were expecting, and it’s not the result I hoped for. I’m really hoping that Thailand will be better for us, I want to finish well there.”

Tito Rabat – P15

“It was a similar race to Misano’s where we could defend, we gave our best and we leave strong for the following ones. Unfortunately, there’s always a problem, rather we have a mechanical problem and he start last or I touch somebody and go last and then I have to recover… Luckily I wasn’t last today. We need to learn how to manage the first part of the races because we have not much to win but a lot to lose so managing the first 3 or 4 laps of the race, with the help of electronics to have more grip at the beginning we should do a big step and be where we belong.”

Pecco Bagnaia – P16

“It was an interesting race to collect data but not positive in terms of result. We continue to have big traction problems at the rear. We have to figure out how to solve this situation that is limiting us a lot, especially during the race.”

Mika Kallio – P17

“My last MotoGP race was a long time ago so it was difficult to find the rhythm and get on the same level as the others. We needed the laps today and I think we did quite OK. Everything can always be better but for the first weekend it was alright and we made kept the mistakes to a minimum. The only disappointing thing was missing out of the points and I think maybe I made a mistake with the tyre choice. I was missing experience with how the soft or the hard would behave. We made good times in tricky conditions and I always like those and I had a good feeling with the bike. Who knows? Maybe we can have a race like that in the rest of the season. We’ll set some target now for the rest of the weekends this year. We’ll see how it goes in Thailand.”

Karel Abraham – P18

“I think it has been a really good race even if we finished 18th and we did not get points. It is a shame but I think in this race has been very good because have been fighting, overtaking riders all the time and we had a good pace because the difference between the fastest and slowest laps where within a second, which is really positive. Obviously I am not happy that other riders did not crash but this is not usual and we could have been further. If we had done this race in Misano, we could have get some point for sure. I need to inspire, the last month I haven’t been able to train as I was injured and ill but now I must go back to my routine and work out to be stronger in Thailand.”

Bradley Smith – P19

“It was a good day for Aprilia, the result of hard work by everyone. I am happy, first of all, about finishing the race, since in my last wild cards that had not been possible. We took a shot in the dark, starting with an entirely new setting. It was also a functional decision because of the tests we’ll be doing here in a few days, during which we want to give Aleix and Andrea a little extra help for the rest of the season.”

Jorge Lorenzo – P20

“At the start of the race I was very hopeful of a good result as I made a very strong start and I was quite competitive in the opening laps. Unfortunately I felt a lot of drop on the rear tyre and I struggled for rear grip from early in the race. I tried to manage it by being as smooth as possible, but I dropped back little by little. It’s a pity, I would have rather started the race poorly and finished strong. But still we can take positives as we have learned more about the setting and I was pleased with how some sessions went this weekend. Congratulations to Marc and the Repsol Honda Team for a great win.”

Hafizh Syahrin – P21

“It was a hard race! In the beginning, there were many touches with other riders, going wide and it was difficult to come out of this without any harm. I tried to manage a good rhythm after I passed Abraham and aimed to try to catch Kallio, but in the end in turn 12, I couldn’t stop the bike, so I went onto the gravel and I just came back behind Lorenzo. It was very close, but not enough. The last races were truly not good for me, I just want to keep working hard and try to understand more. We have five races more, which is going to be long, but we try everything.”

Franco Morbidelli – DNF

“Yesterday I showed really strong pace and I was hoping for a good race so it’s very unfortunate what happened on the first lap. We improved the bike this morning and I knew that we could have a nice result, but in turn 12 I was hit by Rins and there was nothing else I could do. He came after the race and told me he was sorry for the mistake, and that he tried to stop but couldn’t. The positive is that we were fast all weekend, so we’ll aim to exploit our strengths when we go to Thailand.”

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Team Managers

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“It was an unexpectedly difficult race for us. Maverick and Vale suffered from rear tyre degradation. Valentino already at the beginning and Maverick later on, and in the latter’s case it cost him a podium. Losing a place on the rostrum on the last lap is of course very disappointing. During the practice sessions we never faced these tyre-drop problems, because the time we had didn’t allow us to do a long run. We don’t know if the change was due to the rain that fell yesterday, but anyway it is what it is. It is difficult to accept these results, because we were strong in all the sessions, so finishing off the podium isn’t in line with what we were expecting. Still, compared to last year, our performance over the weekend shows that we are consistently improving, but that said, we still have work to do.”

Razlan Razali – Petronas SRT Yamaha Team Principal

“We leave Europe for the overseas races with strong results behind us. In MotoGP, we’re still the top independent team and rider, and the result for Fabio today was good in difficult conditions. It was very unfortunate for Franky on the first lap, but we’re looking forward to getting going again. It was a great fight for John in Moto3, still finishing a very good fourth – and jumping to fourth in the championship – despite losing a knee slider. Ayumu had a good result too, even though we hoped for a little more. With five races to go, there’s still lots of time for him to show his potential. In Moto2 as we were hoping to see Adam learning and progressing until he crashed and hurt himself. We leave Europe well-motivated and can’t wait to get to Thailand, Japan, Australia and of course Malaysia.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Petronas SRT Yamaha Team Manager

“It was a day of mixed fortunes. Franky was really unlucky to be hit by Rins on the first lap. It’s always a drama for a team when you prepare all weekend and then you’re on the floor after half a lap, without any blame for our rider. But that’s racing and luckily he’s unharmed, which is very important for the coming races. Fabio had a stable race, without the result we dreamed for after yesterday’s qualifying – but to finish a difficult race with low grip in fifth isn’t something we can complain about, it’s something to be proud of.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“It was a hard race for Suzuki today. Our pace wasn’t bad this weekend, and both riders had good speed. But today both riders were involved with incidents, and we’re sorry that Morbidelli went out of the race. It was not easy for Alex or Joan to continue after the clashes, they lost positions, but I want to thank them because they didn’t give up and they scored points and got the best finishes they could in the circumstances.”

Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“We knew it would be a hard race from the beginning, but in the end it was even more difficult than we were expecting. Alex did a really good start and slotted into 8th early on, but then he made a mistake, and we’re so sorry for Morbidelli and his team. Alex then took the long lap penalty because of the incident. It’s a pity because I think he had the pace to fight nearer the front, but it didn’t work out like that. On the plus side he regained 3rd in the championship, which is important. Joan was unlucky today after contact with another rider, but he also collected some points and did well to finish. We hope to recover in Thailand and have a better race for both riders.”

Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Team Manager

“The first race for Mika and until the second phase it was going pretty well as he could stay with the group near the top ten. Of course he is missing experience with the correct race tyre and strategy but we’re happy with what he did. The rear tyre choice stopped him getting into the points. Miguel had a great race and a big fight with other riders and we’re happy with that performance. We missed Pol and he was performing well this weekend up until the crash but he had successful surgery this morning and we wish him all the best. We have the test on Tuesday and Wednesday now and then we’ll look to Thailand.”

Hervé Poncharal – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“I would like to say, good race to Miguel, because he’s been in a very strong group with a factory Ducati, a factory Honda and a factory Aprilia and we could see that these guys were side by side, fighting each other. The only thing is, that I feel we had the pace for 10th. Unfortunately, we never managed to pass Petrucci, who was clearly slowing us down and allowing the riders behind to catch us. At the end of the day, that doesn’t make a big difference, but clearly, I believe we had a better pace than our final race position. Anyway, let’s take the positives; Miguel is still not back at 100% on the shoulder. It’s a big improvement since last week in Misano, so hopefully he will be 100% fit in Thailand. He is now unfortunately because of Pol’s injury the KTM leader, so we have to keep that in mind and we need to continue pushing to give the right information to KTM, but we are happy to see Miguel fighting like this. I think it was quite a positive weekend altogether. On the other side, I was excited to see Hafizh to see Hafizh fighting with Lorenzo, Smith and Abraham. It was a good fight, he was ahead of them two or three laps to go and unluckily made a big mistake and finished at the back of the group, which is a shame. Nothing works with Hafizh at the moment, he should have been in front of that group. We can only carry on to support him, to show him our dedication and to give him as much support as possible, but nothing really works. I feel sorry and a bit disappointed about that. Anyway, the next race is going to be closer to his home, so let’s hope this is going to give him a boost. Now we have a big job to pack up everything here in Aragon, to ship all the freight for the four flyaway rounds, which is a tough mission and once that will be done, a few days rest and hello Thailand!”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin

“We came to our Grand Prix in a determined manner to set some new records and make this very much our own race and after Friday it looked like that would be the case. We saw some fast times and the track looked like it was in good condition, but then the rain intervened. This took away any of the rubber that had been laid down and made grip a bit more of a premium, not quite as bad as Misano last week, but enough to have a bearing on lap-times. The rain did give us more data for how the tyres perform in the wet and due to this it meant we were able to test every specification of tyre this weekend, so from that point of view it was a positive event. Unfortunately it rained again on Sunday morning and it was cooler and overcast at the start of the race, although the track was completely dry, but this gave the riders a big dilemma as to which rubber to choose and because of this we only saw four options in the race, with most of them favouring the front medium slick and then a split between the soft and hard rear. This weekend has been a very mixed affair with the conditions, but the tyres performed well and gave the control and performance where it was needed. We now head to Thailand and one of the most demanding tracks of the year to start the fly-away tour. We’re all looking forward to these races as it tests us and the tyres to the limit on four very different racetracks. I would like to thank all the management and staff from Michelin that came to support us here at Aragon this weekend. It was very pleasing to see so many of them here and to be able to show them around the MotoGP operation and how we work at the racetrack. I hope they had an informative time and enjoyed the show.”

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Aragon MotoGP Race Results/Standings

Source: MCNews.com.au