MotoGP 2022 – Round 11
Motul TT Assen
Post Race Quotes
Francesco Bagnaia – P1
“I really had fun this weekend, especially today in the race. It was a special race, and this result gives us the right motivation before we start the summer break. The last time Ducati won at Assen was in 2008 with Stoner, so it’s nice to know that we have taken the Desmosedici GP to victory again at this circuit after such a long time. I’m also happy for Marco Bezzecchi, a friend of mine and an Academy rider, and it’s nice to have been able to share the podium with him. Now we will try to relax and come back even stronger on track in August.”
Marco Bezzecchi – P2
“Is fantastic! I started well, but not very well, but I got into a fight to get back up with Miller. I wanted to be with the first guys, I felt that I could go very fast because I was fast in all the laps here, a track that I have always liked very much. Then I was close to Quartararo and Espargaro when I saw them touch and the door was open at that point. I said to myself: try to catch up on Pecco (Bagnaia) and let’s see what comes out. I pushed hard and managed to look at who was behind me. I tried to manage the tire, even if incredibly I still had good grip and the tire performed well throughout the race. I tried not to make mistakes and when I crossed the finishing line I was over the moon. It goes beyond my dreams, among other things they gave me the flag of Vale, it was incredible, I want to send him a huge hug. Thanks for everything, I would never have been able to get here without you, my family, the Academy, my whole Team and certainly Ducati.”
Maverick Vinales – P3
“I am super happy! We worked hard, without ever giving up, and today we had the first reward for my efforts and Aprilia’s. We never stopped believing because we knew that our time would come. The only thing missing was to put all the pieces in the right place during one weekend and today, despite starting from behind, we succeeded. I started well and managed to make up a few positions already on the first lap. Then I kept pushing all the way to the podium. Now we just need to take the next step, which is winning. If we improve more in qualifying, we can do it. And it would be extraordinary.”
Aleix Espargaro – P4
“There is something they don’t give points for but which is extremely important for me, especially in terms of the championship, and that is the sensation of feeling like the best on the track. Today I was back to having that feeling. I had it throughout the weekend and I’m rather certain that the win would have been within our potential. My Aprilia was extraordinary today. Unfortunately, the contact was an unlucky situation and after that I just focused on giving one hundred percent and demonstrating my speed. Ahead of the weekend I had said that my goal was to close the points gap behind Fabio before the summer break and we managed to do just that, with an important performance. I’m sure that I’ll be missing my RS-GP very soon!”
Brad Binder- P5
“A good race and it felt like it was qualifying from the start to the end! I tried my-heart-out for the podium, I thought it was possible. On the last lap I dived up the inside of Jack but then Aleix got us both: I’m glad we all made it around and nobody crashed! Anyway, it was nice to have a top five finish; it’s been a while. I started at the front, more than I have done lately, and it’s easier to be fighting from 10th than say 15th. I think we got some good data for the team and it’s clear where we need to improve. Once we get it right then I believe we will be really strong.”
Jack Miller – P6
“One lap plus one corner from the end, and this might have sounded very different… almost a cut and paste job from last weekend in Germany because third was right there… So to finish sixth after starting sixth (again) and doing a long-lap penalty (again) – I mean, it’s not bad, but it wasn’t far off being a lot better. I was really happy with the race up until the last lap.
“I dropped back to 10th after doing the long-lap, but made my way back up to fourth and had (Maverick) Vinales ahead of me, but I made a slight mistake on the second-last lap and it cost me. I came through the fast corner before the final chicane, the closing speed was quite a lot and I expected him, when he opened the gas, to accelerate more – but he didn’t. I had to pick the bike up to avoid him, and when I did it started snaking, she was a bit out of control. I lost all my speed onto the front straight and that put me in range of Brad (Binder) and Aleix (Espargaro) to attack me on the last lap.
“The final chicane on the last lap when Aleix got both of us… I wasn’t expecting it. It was my fault, I take full responsibility for that. I copped a handlebar to the elbow and I had nowhere to go, got pushed wide. I felt like I was stronger than the guys around me at the end of the race, I was able to manage the soft tyre really well until the end, and that gives me confidence at least because the last two races I’ve been strong at the end. But rewind a lap and I’m thinking it could be another podium… so sixth – yeah, a tough one.
“Saturday in qualifying was like Germany all over again. Qualified sixth, had a crash, got myself a long lap penalty again… pretty familiar really. Unfortunate for sure with the penalty, but to be honest I didn’t feel like I did a lot wrong.
“I crashed near the end of Q2 at Turn 5 and I was sitting side-saddle because I’d just bump-started the bike to get going again, and I had a busted foot-peg. I was trying to make sure it didn’t snap when I put my weight on it to swing my leg over. I looked to make sure that I wasn’t in anyone’s way or anything and Maverick was just there. There’s a lot of track there but I understand the racing line sort of pulls you out that way to the left, but there’s not much more I could do. I went to apologise to him straight afterwards because I know it was shit…. I couldn’t have done much more to get out of the way though, and the speed difference was the big issue. Unfortunate with the penalty, but it is what it is. I’d already messed up my own qualifying, and the penalty didn’t help in the race… when you lose track position, having to pass these guys back isn’t the easiest thing nowadays and it usually takes more than one lap to pass one guy. Makes things hard, for sure.
“That’s four races in the last five weekends for us and I’m sure we’re all ready for a rest, I know I am. It’ll be good to get home for a few weeks and then go again for the last nine races of the season, my last nine with Ducati and of course my home race at Phillip Island. A lot to look forward to, but it’s time for a break…”
Joan Mir – P8
“There were two key things about this race for me, one is that my start was quite bad and I didn’t gain any positions, and the other is that in the last part of the race I lost a lot of time trying to overtake Zarco. But in general today’s result isn’t bad because the lap times showed I was quite pacey, and I was able to make up quite a lot of places in the end and get some points on the board. I feel a bit of a boost now ahead of the summer break, and I’ll be ready to come back and fight for more in the second half.”
Miguel Oliveira – P9
“I was looking for my spot on the grid and I did not expect Joan to brake that hard. It could have been a worse incident, but I broke my lever protector and also my right side pod and it was tricky to race without it. The bike was a bit unstable in the fast parts – sectors two and four – and I missed a few tenths of a second as well. To finish in the top ten was good but it is always frustrating when you know you could have done better, and I knew today we had the speed and the pace to be a bit faster. I was complaining that I needed to be more consistent and now I think I have four 9th positions! Not the consistency where I’d like to have it but now we have this break to re-group and come back better.”
Alex Rins – P10
“My start wasn’t as good as usual, and I’m not really sure why – I started ninth but I was only 16th in the early laps. Then I wanted to make sure I had enough heat in the tyres and I didn’t want to push until I felt more able to. I did feel some pain during today’s race, and it wasn’t easy, but I managed to get my way up to 10th and that’s quite a nice finish after such a difficult period for me and my team. Now it’s time to take a few weeks of rest and come back in Silverstone – a track I really love.”
Enea Bastianini – P11
“It was a difficult Grand Prix, with many ups and downs. It’s a shame because I was feeling good both in FP4 and this morning, while in the race something was missing in the right-hand corners. It’s a bit of a challenging period of time, but we take these points and we stay positive. Now we’re going to take a little brake to reset and back at Silverstone with a set goal: to be back among the protagonists, and I’m sure we’ll be able to do so in England already.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P12
“The race was quite a tough one. I had quite a good start and was able to gain a couple of positions on the first lap. At the beginning I was doing good lap times and had good confidence on the bike. I was behind Brad Binder and my times were consistent, but unfortunately, I got a long-lap penalty because of track limits and after that it was really difficult as I dropped some positions. We finished P12, the result was not what we were looking for, but the race was quite positive and our best lap time was ok. I want to say a big thanks to the team who worked really hard as always. Now, we have the summer break so I will try to recover as I still have pain on my right shoulder and get ready for the second part of the season.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P14
“I see a lot of positives from today’s race. In what was a tough weekend, we still managed to finish in the points and I must say that today the feeling with the bike was a lot better compared to yesterday. I was feeling good and I believe we could have finished between 8th and 11th, but unfortunately a big vibration at the front-end in the second race has limited us a lot.”
Álex Márquez – P15
“It was a difficult race for us, but I gave my 100%. In the first half of the race our pace was not bad, but later on I started struggling with the rear tyre. I pushed too much at the beginning and we still have problems turning the bike. I am now ready for the summer break; I need to disconnect mentally and “recharge batteries” as the first part of the season has been tough. I’ll come back to Silverstone, fully motivated and ready to work hard like always.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P16
“I didn’t have a good start, I lost positions in the first three corners, because there were some confusions in turn one where I went out from the track as everybody was inside. This track is difficult at the beginning to overtake because there is a big disorder about the lines and at the start of the race from the start of the season, I can’t properly brake or stop the bike. I’m not able to be aggressive and not able to gain and use the potential of the bike. Almost every race for me, I’m losing 12 seconds in the first five laps just because you are behind and that is bad. In any case I was able to recover and gain some positions and overtake Bradl and Marini at the end. But I wasn’t able to score any points, so it’s just unlucky.”
Luca Marini – P17
“A difficult race, decided immediately at the start. I made my start trying to hold the line, but suddenly I saw Mir. I think his bike has wheel a bit, it’s not easy to keep the control in those situations, but it was dangerous. I tried to do everything possible to avoid it, we touched each other, fortunately I didn’t crash also because I had several riders behind me. In the collision, I broke one winglets of the bike and from that moment it was impossible to ride. I didn’t want to retire, I tried to cross the finishing line. In any case, we must be happy with this first part of the season: I have a fantastic Team, they are working very hard and they deserve this growth. Today seeing Pecco and Marco on the podium (Bagnaia and Bezzecchi) was great and we will certainly celebrate when we return home. Marco also gave the Team the first podium after a race with an impressive pace.”
Stefan Bradl – P18
“It was not a bad race and overall I am happy with what we did. It’s clear that we suffered a lot, the bike at the moment does not have the right balance and we need to keep working on it. I made a good start and I was able to stay with Marini for most of the race which was good for information. This was good to feedback to the engineers. Now we go into the Summer Break but I have another test in Jerez in July, so we will keep working then. We are not going to stop working until we have more improvements.”
Remy Gardner – P19
“It was a really tough race. I made a good start which I was pretty happy with, but then I got sandwiched in the first corner by other riders and ended up last. I had to push a lot to try to fight my way back to my position and finished P19. It is time for a well deserved summer break because the start of the season has been very intense.”
Lorenzo Savadori – P20
“A good race where I managed to make some good passes in the early laps. A few drops of rain made me lose grip on a turn, which consequently made me lose contact with the group. In any case, I’m satisfied with the work we did throughout the entire weekend and I’m especially happy about Maverick’s first podium with Aprilia and Aleix’s masterpiece race.”
Darryn Binder – DNF
“Overall, it’s been a difficult weekend for me. Because we lost some dry time on Friday, I always felt like I was one step behind where I needed to be. I was always playing catch up. In the race, I started to make steps forward, I went faster than what I did in Qualifying on the hard rear tyre, so I was slowly, but surely getting better and better and I was trying to keep a good rhythm. Unfortunately, before lap 10, I just tucked the front going into turn nine. I’m really disappointed. That’s not the way I wanted to go into the summer break. Anyway, I’ve got five weeks now to work on myself and come back fitter, stronger and faster.”
Fabio Quartararo – DNF
“I made a rookie mistake. It was only the third lap and I attacked like it was the last one. It was totally my mistake. My apologies to Aprilia and Aleix for making him go out of the track. It was a race accident. I came into the pits because I felt there was a problem, but the team told me to continue because rain was supposed to come. But we crashed again. I feel pretty lucky I haven’t broken anything. I could save the first moment, but as soon as I moved, I had another one and fell. I feel a bit sore in the shoulder. But it’s my fault, I could have done a better result than crash in the third lap and crash again later. I crashed only twice in the first ten rounds of the season, and today I crashed twice in ten laps. We spoke with the team before the race. The strategy was that if I was in front, I would push. If I was behind, I would try not to make any mistakes. But I did the opposite. Not something I would do on purpose. It was just a stupid mistake.”
Franco Morbidelli – DNF
“I lost the front in Turn 5 and crashed. That was unfortunate. The biggest deal is that we need to get the right speed. And to get that with this bike, you have to be very aggressive, and that is not my way of riding. We will take this summer break to regroup and to understand it well. I will try to sort something out in my riding style to get more aggressive to make this bike work for me.”
Raul Fernandez – Retired
“I am not sure exactly what happened at the start of the race but I quickly encountered pain in my right forearm. The muscle was blocked, it hurt, and it became worse lap after lap. I was struggling with braking, so the best decision was to retire because it was unsafe for both the other riders and myself. I would like to apologise to my team because they have worked really hard this weekend.”
Team Managers
Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager
“It was a tough and suffered race. We also had a bit of luck, given the mistakes made by our rivals, but both Pecco and Marco took a first and a second-place they absolutely deserved! It’s a pity for Jack because he could have been on the podium today if he hadn’t received the penalty he got yesterday in qualifying. I congratulate Bagnaia and Bezzecchi for this beautiful race and all the guys and girls at Ducati Corse for their outstanding work”.
Pablo Nieto – Mooney VR46 Racing Team Manager
“A day like this before the summer break is something unique. An incredible job by the whole Team: at the beginning of the year it was not easy, we have struggled a lot in the first races, but we continued to work with our heads down and not give up. We are really happy and it’s time to thank Mooney, all the partners who support us and Vale who we hope will be happy with this first podium in the history of the Team. And Marco, what to say: thanks, only thanks. He gave us unforgettable emotions and then the second place here in Assen, the Cathedral, a historic track on the calendar. A real shame for Luca and for the contact with Mir immediately on the grid which compromised his race. I’m sure the time will come for him, he need to continue like this.”
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager
“A solid fifth position for Brad. A good start and a very fast race, ten seconds quicker than last year and another sign of how the level continues to go up. He was going for 4th place until the last chicane. It was a big improvement over 2021 and because of that better race time we need to understand and analyze; this race can give us a lot of interesting information. We started with the leading group and we were less than three seconds from the winner. Miguel unfortunately had a collision coming to the grid and that damage to the bike compromised his race through the many righthand corners. Anyway, he was able to keep a good pace but couldn’t do anything better. Now we have the summer break and we will re-charge the batteries after an intense first half of the season. We will be confident for the second half of the championship to come.”
Livio Suppo – Suzuki Team Manager
“This isn’t the result we were really hoping for, because this is a track where both our riders are fast and our bike too. But, on the other hand, certain things conditioned the race a bit today; neither qualified very high up so they were already on the back foot, and then Joan had a touch off the start. But despite all this, both riders had good pace and I’m pleased with their performance; they didn’t give up. The speed was good, but the final result of eighth and 10th wasn’t as high as we wanted. But taking this finish before the break is important, and I want to thank all the team for their hard work during the first half of the season.”
Shinichi Sahara – Suzuki MotoGP Project Leader
“Looking at today from a positive point of view, both our riders finished in the Top 10 and this is good for us, especially after some DNFs recently. Joan was riding very well today, but his grid position wasn’t ideal and it held him back, so we need to improve that. Alex was impressive to finish inside the Top 10 because his wrist still isn’t at 100%. During the summer break we’ll put effort in to return in the best shape possible.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“These were results we didn‘t expect to score today. Luckily, neither rider got injured in their crashes. We started the race hoping to be able to put in a good performance. We were, anyway, well prepared for this race, but this is racing. We view the first crash of Fabio as a race incident and feel that Race Direction’s decision to give him a sanction for the next race is not only harsh considering he took nobody down with him and Aleix still scored points, but it’s also not consistent with race incidents we’ve seen in earlier GPs that were left unpunished. We will use this break to digest this GP and come back ready to fight in Silverstone in one month‘s time.”
Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 KTM Team Manager
“Tech3 KTM Factory Racing team was expecting to finish the first half of the season on a higher note, especially after the last two races in Catalunya and Sachsenring. Practice was quite good for both Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, but today during the race they were both clearly missing something, which is a shame. Unfortunately, Raul Fernandez had to retire due to a wobble on his bike which caused huge pain on his right arm and made it impossible to ride, so this is a great shame.
“Remy completed the race but was quite slow during the second part. We need to keep our positive attitude because I was impressed with Brad Binder’s pace and attitude today. He finished fifth after hard fights with Factory Ducati and Aprilia bikes which are currently the best ones on the grid, and Miguel Oliveira ninth. As usual, we need to see the glass half full because we have a good package, and we will continue working hard.
“As I have been saying since the very first round, our target is to reduce the gap between the KTM Factory Racing and Tech3 KTM Factory Racing teams. We still have a long way to go, so we will keep pushing.”
Razlan Razali – Team Principal WithU Yamaha RNF
“It’s not the best result before the summer break with Darryn having a big crash a couple of laps into the race as he was in a good position. I’m glad that he’s okay. And with Andrea finishing in 16th position, it’s not the best result that we wanted before we go on a five week’s break, but he tried his best and was fighting hard. All we can do is to use this break to reflect and find a way to do better in the remaining nine races for this season.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager WithU Yamaha RNF
“Round 11 Assen is done and we have been quite lucky with the weather, but not very lucky with the results. Darryn pushed hard in the beginning, but the lack of laps and experience with the rain day caused him to crash out quite early over the front, but he is okay. Andrea did a good job, he was not good in the first two laps, got into traffic and was 23rd at the end of the first lap. But he pushed and kept on fighting to finally finish in P16 with quite an impressive lap time. Compared to Sachsenring, where he was feeling quite bad, he was better here and his performance improved as well. So, we’re looking forward to our summer break, for some sunshine and relaxation and training for the riders and then we try to focus for Silverstone and prepare everything well. It should be one of the tracks that our bikes should fit quite well and we hope the weather is good for us there.”
Assen MotoGP Race Results
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | 40m25.205 |
2 | Marco BEZZECCHI | DUCATI | +0.444 |
3 | Maverick VIÑALES | APRILIA | +1.209 |
4 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | +2.585 |
5 | Brad BINDER | KTM | +2.721 |
6 | Jack MILLER | DUCATI | +3.045 |
7 | Jorge MARTIN | DUCATI | +4.340 |
8 | Joan MIR | SUZUKI | +8.185 |
9 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | +8.325 |
10 | Alex RINS | SUZUKI | +8.596 |
11 | Enea BASTIANINI | DUCATI | +9.783 |
12 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | +10.617 |
13 | Johann ZARCO | DUCATI | +14.405 |
14 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO ITA | DUCATI | +17.681 |
15 | Alex MARQUEZ | HONDA | +25.866 |
16 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | YAMAHA | +29.711 |
17 | Luca MARINI | DUCATI | +30.296 |
18 | Stefan BRADL | HONDA | +32.225 |
19 | Remy GARDNER | KTM | +34.947 |
20 | Lorenzo SAVADORI | APRILIA | +35.798 |
Not Classified | |||
DNF | 25 Raul FERNANDEZ | KTM | 8 laps |
DNF | 20 Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | 15 laps |
DNF | 40 Darryn BINDER | YAMAHA | 18 laps |
DNF | 21 Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | 18 laps |
MotoGP Championship Points Standings
Pos | Rider | Nat | Points |
1 | QUARTARARO Fabio | FRA | 172 |
2 | ESPARGARO Aleix | SPA | 151 |
3 | ZARCO Johann | FRA | 114 |
4 | BAGNAIA Francesco | ITA | 106 |
5 | BASTIANINI Enea | ITA | 105 |
6 | BINDER Brad | RSA | 93 |
7 | MILLER Jack | AUS | 91 |
8 | MIR Joan | SPA | 77 |
9 | RINS Alex | SPA | 75 |
10 | OLIVEIRA Miguel | POR | 71 |
11 | MARTIN Jorge | SPA | 70 |
12 | VIÑALES Maverick | SPA | 62 |
13 | MARQUEZ Marc | SPA | 60 |
14 | BEZZECCHI Marco | ITA | 55 |
15 | MARINI Luca | ITA | 52 |
16 | NAKAGAMI Takaaki | JPN | 42 |
17 | ESPARGARO Pol | SPA | 40 |
18 | MARQUEZ Alex | SPA | 27 |
19 | MORBIDELLI Franco | ITA | 25 |
20 | DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio | ITA | 18 |
21 | BINDER Darryn | RSA | 10 |
22 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | ITA | 10 |
2022 MotoGP Calendar
Date | Grand Prix | Circuit |
07 August | Great Britain | Silverstone Circuit |
21 August | Austria | Red Bull Ring-Spielberg |
04 September | San Marino | Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli |
18 September | Aragón | MotorLand Aragón |
25 September | Japan | Twin Ring Motegi |
02 October | Thailand | Chang International Circuit |
16 October | Australia | Phillip Island |
23 October | Malaysia | Sepang International Circuit |
06 November | Comunitat Valenciana | Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo |