MotoGP 2018

Round Nine – Sachsenring

MotoGP Sachsenring Marquez Celebrate — Marc Marquez

Marc Marquez – P1

“Of course I’m very happy, as nine wins in a row here is incredible! But every year the pressure increases, because beginning on Thursday, everyone starts asking about winning on Sunday! Anyway, we have the experience to handle that as well. Today I expected the race to have different phases, with the first tyre drop happening after around nine laps and a final one seven to five laps from the end. I was prepared to manage the different situations, but in the beginning it wasn’t easy because my start wasn’t perfect. I expected that Lorenzo might pass me but not Petrucci. I lost two positions and then overtaking them wasn’t easy. When I did it, I started to push in order to pull a gap but without being ‘crazy’ so that I could manage the tyre consumption until the end of the race. But then they signalled me that Valentino was closing in very fast, and when I saw 0.6 in the board I understood that I had to push again and completely use my tyres for two or three laps, so I did my fastest lap of the race. I was able to open a gap again and then manage it. Then, when I was celebrating I saw a marshal with a No. 26 cap, so I took it and went to celebrate in front of the fans because I think this weekend Dani was the protagonist, and we’ll miss him. We and Honda are working very well and we need to continue like this in the second part of the Championship with the same feeling we’ve had so far.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Marquez Rossi Crutchlow — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Valentino Rossi – P2

“Usually Sachsenring is a difficult track for the M1, but today we were able to get a double podium, so we’re very happy, also about the work of the team. I‘m so happy because I did a fantastic race from the beginning, I never made a mistake. Last week, I rewatched the race from last year and I said to myself ‘Folger was good with the Yamaha, so we have to do the same!’ In the end I got the same position as he did, so I‘m happy and it‘s a great way to start the holiday.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Yamaha Rossi Vinales — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Maverick Vinales – P3

“It was a tough race, honestly, but I feel happy because I think we worked well throughout the whole weekend and I think we did a good job. With the team we worked hard on the last ten laps of the race, which were the most important. I think we were one of the strongest at the end of the race, but there are still things for us to improve, also on myself. It’s good to have a break right now, to give us some time to work hard and try to improve the bike. It was almost impossible to overtake today. I tried, but I was going wide everywhere. Outside, inside, I tried everything! When the tyres started to drop I was overtaking everyone in corner 8, closing my eyes, going downhill, full gas. I gave everything, and the bike was working well. I was doing some 1’21.8s or 1’21.9s and this was the race pace that I was expecting. Honestly, congratulations to the team. We’re making the steps little by little and we just have to keep working.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Vinales — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Danilo Petrucci – P4

“It’s a shame I couldn’t get to the podium but I’m very satisfied for this weekend. We have done a great job both in terms of set-up and electronics and I would like to thank the whole team. We go on holiday with a smile”.

MotoGP Sachsenring Petrucci Rossi Crutchlow — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Álvaro Bautista – P5

“I think first of all, to finish five seconds behind the winner, is not easy. At Assen it was seven seconds and here we have closed the gap. I can’t say it feels like a win because I can’t taste the champagne but it is an important result because we have been on an upward curve since Jerez and it has put us on the right lines. Preseason wasn’t very long, we missed a couple of tests and we struggled a little at the start of the season to find the right way forward. In the race I felt stronger than Dovizioso and Petrucci but it was difficult to pass them. I lost three or four laps there that could have been very valuable. At the end of the race the rear tyre was starting to say ‘enough’ but I could see that Lorenzo was having problems and I was able to pass him. I am happy with the progress we have made, I feel motivated and I think we can do even better.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Vinales Bautista Pedrosa — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Jorge Lorenzo – P6

“I made a great start again today and led the race for a number of laps, but right from the start I noticed that the track didn’t have much grip. I was leading but I realised that I was unable to shake off the riders behind me and when the rear tyre began to lose grip it was impossible to keep up the pace. Overall we made progress throughout the weekend, but we weren’t able to confirm the good job we did with a positive result. Maybe we went in the wrong direction with the setting of the bike: we focussed too much on trying to get a lot of grip at the front and we probably neglected the rear a bit, which in the end compromised our race and made it impossible to fight for the podium. Now the WDW awaits us at Misano and then, after a few days rest, we’ll concentrate on Brno where I’m convinced we’ll be back stronger than ever.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Start Lorenzo Petrucci — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Andrea Dovizioso – P7

“It was a difficult race, but at least this time we were amongst the leading group at a circuit where, in the past, we had never obtained any good results. We had a good pace at the start of the race, but I wasn’t able to ride smoothly and so I couldn’t keep up the same pace until the end. Until half-way through the race I was lapping with the same times as the leaders, but then the rear tyre dropped off and I was no longer able to ride in a smooth way and make the bike flow through the middle of the corners. Pity, but we’ll also take stock of this experience to get a better idea of which direction to follow.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Andrea Dovizioso — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Dani Pedrosa – P8

“It was a disappointing race because this is a track where I’ve always been faster, but we’ve been struggling all weekend with the bike setup. We managed to improve here and there a little bit but I never felt really comfortable. I did more or less the same lap times for the entire race, but not fast enough. We can’t do anything else but continue working to try to improve the setting and feeling on the bike.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Pedrosa Zarco Smith — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Johann Zarco – P9

“I’m happy about the race. Ninth position is good for the difficult weekend I had. Although I’m happy about the result, I’m a bit disappointed that I couldn’t see the podium as my pace is just not good enough to be there. Together with my crew we work hard, but we didn’t find the right solution this weekend to be stronger. That’s the hardest task, that I hope we can solve after the summer break in order to have a better feeling and be fast again. Maybe we can find the way to set the bike up better. I cross my fingers for the second half of the season to find the pace for the podium again. Fifth in the championship, same like fourth, but it would be really fantastic to fight for the top 3 in the overall standings and I trust in it.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Zarco Smith — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Bradley Smith – P10

“It was nice to be able to get the result that we knew was there and we’ve had that potential all season. For some reason or another Sundays have been the disappointing days, particularly in Assen two weeks ago where I felt I could have done a similar job as today. We have to be happy and we worked hard all weekend. I was able to hold with (Dani) Pedrosa and (Johann) Zarco for a long time and regrouped after a small mistake. I could then pull away from Hafizh and bring home some good points; six in fact after only scoring seven all season. Finally a good finish and we were able to show where the KTM can be.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Smith Nakagami — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Hafizh Syahrin – P11

“First of all, I want to say thank you very much to my crew, because they made a really good job on my setting. We came back in FP4 after we went a bit in the wrong direction in FP3. I felt like in the beginning of the season and honestly, I think this track is really tricky, but I scored very strong points. I could stay with the group of Johann, but then suddenly the rear tyre had a big drop. I tried to understand and manage as good as possible, this is part of my learning experience. Eleventh was the best I could get at the moment. I tried to come back stronger after some difficult rounds and now we are best rookie again before the summer break. I try to keep my physical condition consistent, try to train hard in the break and don’t lose the focus, because I want the Rookie of the Year title.”

Andrea Iannone – P12

“The race was over for me at Turn 3. I think Pol Espargarò should have thought a bit more about what he was doing, because there isn’t space at that corner and he was completely on the kerb – there wasn’t a line there. I heard the bike behind me and I started to pick my bike up a bit because I expected there could be contact, that manoeuvre prevented me from crashing but my bike was damaged and I lost more than 10 places. I tried my best but it was difficult to make up positions. My lap time was not bad, I could have been in the top 5 to top 8 places. I understand that everyone wants to push hard in the early laps, but it’s more dangerous than ever in MotoGP now and people must be careful. I have shown good pace in the last few races and I’m waiting to continue this good form in Brno.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Andrea Iannone — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Tito Rabat – P13

“I had a complicated weekend, with many problems with the grip of the tyres. We changed the bike at the last minute for the race, in which we have done well and picked up a couple of points. Now I’m going to ‘relax’ a bit in the WDW and then rest a bit to recharge my batteries for the next race”.

Jack Miller – P14

“If I am to be honest, I am pleased to have been able to stay in the race after the clash with Espargaro. The race pace was good and I could have done the Top 10. I’m still in the Top 10 of the standings and I can’t wait to be in Brno to do a great race”.

MotoGP Sachsenring Jack Miller — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Scott Redding – P15

“I started rather well, making up positions. In the last few race weekends, it has always been the session where I felt the best and again today, I have to say that I was rather confident. Unfortunately, about 5-6 laps from the end, I had an abrupt drop in rear tyre performance. I tried to conserve it throughout the race, staying behind Rabat and thinking that I would launch an attack in the finale, but the total lack of grip forced me to settle for fifteenth. I am a bit disappointed because of the good feeling, but on this track, losing grip on the left side with all the corners on that side means losing a lot of time.”

Stefan Bradl – P16

“I am happy to finish the race and it was good weekend, it was a dream come true to be back in MotoGP at my home race, it was an amazing feeling with the fans. Considering the short amount of practice I think I did a good race and still have the performance level for MotoGP. Now I hope Franco will be back even stronger in the next race at Brno.”

Tom Luthi – P17

“In the first part of the race I felt OK and was able to save the tyres and catch some guys but in the second half of race it was difficult. The rear tyre went down a lot and I struggled to push to get into the points. I expected a little more from this first half of the season but now I’m looking to the next race in Brno where did a test last week.”

Karel Abraham – P18

“I got a great start and the first two laps were really nice but then I started to lose touch with the group. I was fighting with rear grip problems and also lacking acceleration out of the final corner. It was frustrating because I wanted to fight with Miller but he was pulling thirty metres on me on the straight and it was impossible to recover that gap. That was the best I could do today. On the final five laps I was on the limit. The good thing is that now we have a couple of weeks to rest and then it’s my home Grand Prix at Brno”.

Xavier Simeon – P19

“It has been a difficult weekend. I expected to do much better, but lately, we didn’t find the right way. Today in the race there was no way to fight with those who were ahead of me and I don’t understand why. Now we are going to have a small break, where we will reset in order to get stronger for the rest of the championship”.

Cal Crutchlow – DNF

“When we crash with the front of the Honda we don’t seem to understand why, because three laps before I went in deeper than that and faster than that and had no problem. I felt good, I felt nice in that group and had made the split that had gone. It’s easy to say that I should have managed the situation better, I felt I was managing that well there, but in the end I lost the front at turn 12 and that’s always a risk when you’re sitting in a group like that. Our team and our bike are working very well, obviously I’m disappointed to crash before the summer break but we’ll have to try again in Brno and see if we can improve there. Again, it’s good to be up there and competitive, but also disappointing because I was ahead of (Maverick) Vinales, who finished on the podium, at that time and who had the soft rear tyre. But that’s the way it goes, sometimes you have good races and sometimes you have bad ones.”

MotoGP Sachsenring Start — MotoGP 2018
Round Nine – Sachsenring

Pol Espargaro – DNF

“I don’t want to say I was unlucky because I generated everything. I was on the outside of the second corner and I was pushed a little wide, which is normal, but I could not avoid Iannone who was on the inside of the third corner and locking the bike a lot. I crashed and I was so, so sorry for Alex (Rins). It was really unfortunate that it happened there on the first lap and we didn’t get to show what we had in the pocket today. From the first practice we were trying new things and new stuff and I was not focussed on the bike that we know until this morning. We had a very good rhythm and feeling and I was ready to do a good race. It was the worst moment of the season because I think we could have shown something very interesting here at Sachsenring.”

Takaaki Nakagami – DNF

“I’m very disappointed about today’s race. It was tricky on the first lap because in between turn three and four there was an incident in front of me and I was really close to hitting them. But that was ok and then I was fighting with Johan (Zarco) and each corner we were battling. I tried to follow him but unfortunately I made a mistake in the last corner and braked too much. I lost the front grip and that was it, I crashed and it was my mistake. It’s easy to say after the race, but if I had finished I could have been maybe ninth or tenth. But I’m very sorry to the team because this had been a good weekend and I’m very disappointed it ended up like this. Now we must think about the next race.”

Alex Rins – DNF

“I was on my line, and it was very strange because when I changed direction to enter Turn 3 I found Pol was on the inside line, on the kerb. He touched Andrea and then he crashed and I went with him because there was no space to avoid it. I’m really sad because we worked very hard with the team all weekend and it’s disappointing to finish like this. This season has been going very well, despite the crashes in the early part of the year. We’ve been fighting a lot with the lead group and it’s nice for me and for all the team. We’re looking forward to coming back after the summer break.”

MotoGP Team Managers

Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Team Director

“This double podium is a great result for the team! It has been a really good weekend because we‘ve been able to improve and optimize the bike step by step. Considering that Sachsenring is always a difficult track for us, second and third are great results. Vale had a good start and was able to stay with the two front riders at the beginning, and together with them he could pull away from the second group, managing his tyres very well throughout the race. I think his tyre change to medium on the grid was key to today‘s performance as well. Maverick started in a good position but dropped back in the early stages. However, he managed to recover, doing amazing overtaking manoeuvres, which is not easy at this circuit, especially towards the end of the race. After this double podium we deserve a small break, so we can start the second half of the season with refreshed energy.”

Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 Yamaha Team Manager

“We were not expecting to have an easy life in Germany, but honestly speaking, Friday and Saturday were very difficult, including the Qualifying. Warm Up was also quite tricky, so we started the race with not too high hopes. But again, I would like to say that both, Johann and Hafizh showed that they are racers when it comes down to race day and they showed that they try to overcome all the issues they are facing in practice and I think we finished the race in almost the best position we could have hoped for. Johann had a great fight with Dani Pedrosa and just gave up in the very last laps. Still he managed to end up in ninth position which makes equal on points with Andrea Dovizioso in fourth overall – a great achievement. We still have ten races to go, so everything is possible. On the other side, Hafizh showed a big fighting spirit and was clever. He was in ninth position in Barcelona a few laps to the end before he did a beginner mistake, so today he showed us that he has learned from that. He has been fighting with great names and the last guy he has been fighting with and whom he eventually beat on the line was Andrea Iannone, which is a full factory rider and a GP winner, so this is something that makes us proud. He is also taking back the lead in the rookies classification, which is our and his main target this year. We are happy with our two guys. Like everybody in the paddock they need a few days off. Johann will have certainly a few days of rest in the South of France, while Hafizh is flying back to Kuala Lumpur to meet the family. Have a good holiday to both of you, recover, recharge your batteries and of course this also applies to the whole crew. Thank you for your hard work and keep some straight because we have another ten to go. Bonne vacances!”

Mike Leitner – KTM Team Manager

“We again showed that we are making progress. Being fastest in warm-up is not just a gift from the others. We went into the race very confident because of Pol’s speed and Bradley’s race pace from FP4 so it was a shame we lost Pol on the first lap because we were expecting the top ten with him. In the end we were very happy that Bradley achieved the goal; this is a great result for him, the team and the factory. We should take the positives from this race and we’ll think during the summer break how we can improve for the second half of the season.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“Today for us, after the first lap, everything was already finished. The accident caused by another rider included both our riders and it ended Alex’s race and made it very hard for Andrea. It was key that Andrea didn’t give up, and he tried to recover as many positions as possible, but we all know how difficult the Sachsenring is for overtaking. It was a real pity because we had very good race pace and we expected a better day. After this two week break we will come back stronger.”

Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager

“It’s sad when the day is negative and it’s not your fault. Unfortunately there was the accident at Turns 2 and 3, which took both Alex and Andrea in one shot the first crashed and the latter had to continue from very far back, and our race from that moment was extremely compromised. Andrea tried to recover as much as he could and he got to 12th position, which was good in a race where it was not easy to recover due to tyre management. Anyway, everything that happened today was of a consequence of this early incident, it’s sad and shouldn’t really happen at track like Sachsenring where everybody knows it’s very tight.”