Brno MotoGP Sprint Race Quotes

Francesco Bagnaia – 1st

“I’m happy, as we managed to stay competitive since yesterday. After an adjustment that didn’t work out as we’d hoped, we reverted to yesterday’s set-up for qualifying and everything worked well. We then chose the soft tyre, with the goal of being quicker in the opening two to three laps and then managing our lead in the closing stages. The strategy worked, and this is a great confidence boost ahead of tomorrow. I’m still not perfectly comfortable with the bike, but I love this track and we’ll continue to work ahead of the race, especially to manage rear-tyre wear as effectively as possible.”

Ai Ogura – 2nd

“We are all happy. I saw my people happy and that makes me even more happy after the Sprint. It was definitely a good day, especially the Qualifying – exactly what we were missing in the last few races, so I’m super happy about the day overall. The start wasn’t really good, Pecco did an amazing job there but I still managed to be in the second place. After that, to be honest, I didn’t expect that Pecco would ride that strong this time, so the second position was the maximum we could get. For sure the start is one point but we have a lot of other things to fix for tomorrow.”

Marc Marquez – 3rd

“I’m happy with the Sprint podium here at Brno. Given our fifth place on the grid, I was expecting a much more challenging race. The early part went well: I struggled a bit with the fresh rear tyre and the slipstream, as they didn’t allow me to brake the way I wanted and forced me to carry more corner speed. In this situation, it was easy to tuck the front. Then, with clearer track ahead, I felt a lot more comfortable, but as soon as I got close to Ogura, overtaking him turned out to be impossible. I tried to take it easier for a few laps and then have another go at the end, but on the final lap I realised it was too risky.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – 4th

“Today in the Sprint we made the wrong tyre choice: with the medium tyre I was faster through the corners, but then I lacked traction on corner exit, especially in the opening laps. I take responsibility for this decision, and we will work better together with the team. My start was good and allowed me to get involved in the fight for the podium, but I didn’t have the right tyres to really battle for it. I pushed until the very end, but on the last lap the gap was too big, so I decided to secure some valuable points. For tomorrow’s race, we’re not ruling out any options, and the goal will be to achieve the best result possible! Also, Vale is in the garage with us this weekend, and it’s incredible, he’s truly an exceptional coach!”

Raul Fernandez – 6th

“To be honest, I’m lucky because two, three, days ago I was in the hospital, I was not drinking, I was not eating so, right now, my energy is still quite low. After three laps I didn’t have energy anymore and was quite tired on the bike. For sure, we want more but, if I look back at the situation we had in the last days, then I’m really happy to be in the top six today. I have nothing to say about the bike and about the Sprint really – I was very focused on myself, managing my condition, which is the target for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a very difficult race for us, I have to manage well in the first part of the race.”

Enea Bastianini – 7th

“Qualifying didn’t go to plan. Normally I ride alone, but I was just behind Jorge Martin, who was already through to Q2, and during my second flying lap I found a lot of traffic. I think it would’ve been possible for me to go through. Anyway, sometimes it’s like this. I was able to save the Sprint after. The start wasn’t so good, but I recovered some positions just after. I was a bit lucky as I saw many crashes in front of me on the first lap. After, I got down to my pace and came home in seventh. We got some good information with the medium rear tyre, which will be important for tomorrow. I’m happy with the result and the confidence I had with the bike. But we’re still missing something.”

Fermin Aldeguer – 8th

“Qualifying was definitely the weak point of the day. Starting 11th was not ideal in itself, and considering the start I made, getting into the points was already a good result. The pace was honestly good, especially in the middle part of the race, so looking ahead to Sunday’s race we have to stay positive. We will definitely go with the medium rear tyre, which will give me more stability.”

Brad Binder – 9th

“A better second half to my Saturday. In qualifying I hit track limits on my first attempt and then lost the front on the next two flying laps. So, 20th. I started 19th and finished ninth, so a good comeback even if I did have a little bit of help with some guys going down. If we can make another step in the right direction tomorrow then it might be a bit better.”

Joan Mir – 10th

“I was expecting more today, especially in Qualifying because on Friday I felt like still I had a few tenths of margin in me. Today I thought following someone would help us gain some more time, but we actually had more difficulties, and I lost a bit in the areas where I am stronger because of the dirty air. It was a hard battle in the first laps, and we lost a little bit of contact with the group ahead. With the temperatures today, when you are following a rider, it makes everything very critical and that’s why we couldn’t make more progress. Good to finish and get some information for Sunday.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu – 11th

“Finally, I made a really good start and was able to gain positions immediately. After that I focused on my pace and tried to stay with the riders in front, especially the Hondas. The biggest challenge was that I could consistently close the gap in the braking zones and on corner entry, but I was losing ground again on corner exit. We are still missing something in terms of turning, and that forces me to wait too much before I can accelerate.

“Our race pace was not bad and I think there is potential to take another step forward for the Grand Prix. The medium tyre behaves differently and tomorrow‘s race will give us a better picture of where we really are over the longer distance. The priority now is to improve the turning characteristics of the bike. Braking performance is much better than before, but if we can make the bike turn more naturally, I believe we can be more competitive and fight closer to the riders ahead.”

Franco Morbidelli – 12th

“Today I wasn’t able to make a good start, and from the very beginning I struggled to ride the way I wanted. I fought with the group and gained some positions to cross the finish line in twelfth place. The feeling is not yet ideal, but I’m happy that I managed to get through Q1 in qualifying and progress to Q2. In the meantime, we’re continuing to work hard to be quick again. Tomorrow we’ll have another opportunity to find solutions, and I’m confident.”

Fabio Quartararo – 13th

“This morning I felt better than this afternoon. The feeling with my bike overall is not so bad, but on the first laps of the Sprint it felt different, and we need to find out why, because I know my pace was faster than this. Toprak was faster than I was at the beginning, then I could maintain the pace for a bit, but the soft rear tyre was overheating quite a lot. We use the rear a lot to turn, and I think my rear tyre got cooked.”

Jack Miller – 14th

“Today was a frustrating one in some ways because I felt like I put together a lap that was very close to the maximum I had available, and when you do that and still find yourself down in 18th position, it‘s tough to accept. It shows just how competitive the field is right now and how much we still need to find.

“The start was also difficult. I got off the line well, but then lost some drive in the acceleration phase and that made it hard to hold position into the first corner. Throughout the Sprint, braking and corner speed were actually quite strong, and I was able to make up time in those areas. The main limitation was acceleration, particularly in the lower gears. Compared to the riders around us, we were losing too much on corner exit, which made it difficult to attack or stay with the group ahead. Toward the end of the race the feeling improved and I was finally able to close back in on the riders in front. We’ll analyse the data tonight, understand what happened, and come back tomorrow looking for a stronger race.”

Alex Rins – 15th

“It was tough. I had Morbidelli in front of me, and I overtook him a couple of times because he was braking very early, but as soon as he would see me by his side, he would release the brakes, so he was able to defend the position. Today’s heat increased the temperature of the front tyre a lot for us. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Cal Crutchlow – DNF

“I’m fine. I crashed at the penultimate corner, which was a pity. The bike is working well, we just didn’t have the day we wanted. In the race I was doing a decent job, but as I’m still not completely comfortable ergonomically, I made a small mistake and ended up in the gravel. These things happen. Overall, we’re doing a good job, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

Luca Marini – DNF

“A shame about the crash today, I was pushing really hard to catch Mir just ahead and I lost the front. With the hotter temperature the vibrations were more and the front gave up. I think it was similar to everyone because I think it’s hotter than many people were expecting. Overall, the pace compared to last year is a lot faster, we have made a big step but everyone else has improved almost one second a lap so maybe our improvements aren’t as clear. Today we again couldn’t get the same out of the soft tyre as the others in Q1, it’s always a very complicated session as you get a big mix of riders in there. Still the target is to be faster on Friday to avoid this and prepare ourselves to start inside the top 12.”

Pedro Acosta – DNF

“We had a technical issue with the rear device and I crashed trying to bring it back. When you are not focusing then it’s easy that this can happen. Sorry to the team because maybe I could have managed it in another way and finished the race seventh or eighth but that’s not really what I want. We have to analyse what happened and keep going. I think we would have had pace for the top five today.”

Diogo Moreira – DNF

“Today was a good day despite the result. We had a strong qualifying session and I learned a lot from my rivals. We chose the soft tyre, which I think was the right decision, and got a good start. I pushed to stay with the group, but in the end I carried a bit too much speed into that corner and lost the front. We’re rookies, and these things happen. We’ll try again tomorrow!”

Maverick Viñales – DNF

“On the first lap I just touched the white line and crashed. It’s okay. I’m finding the limits with the bike. I’m happy overall with the day and it’s been a really positive weekend. Today I pushed to the limits and, honestly, I already felt exhausted in FP2, but it’s good that I feel this way as it means I’m building my strength. I need to keep building up and this is the way.

“The best thing is I understand the bike better. It’s a bike you can manage really well with the brakes. Also, here there are a few corners where I can carry a lot of speed. But when the weekend progresses the feeling changes. Yesterday we had a really nice balance. Today the grip on the track improved and the balance wasn’t as good. Then you can’t hit the apex in the same way. This is something we can work on.”

Alex Marquez – Withdrawn

“It was definitely the best training session of the last few weeks. That said, together with the team we decided that the smartest move was not to take any risks in the race. Often crashes during a race don’t depend only on you, so we preferred to use all the available sessions to check my condition, and I think we are in a good place. Honestly, I thought I would be further behind, and at Assen we will continue working to keep improving.”

Team Managers

Davide Brivio – Trackhouse MotoGP Team Principal

“A good Sprint race for us. Ai was able to get his first Sprint podium following the podium in Le Mans in the main race. It was a great day, starting from pole position and being able to stay in the top positions for all the race. He was in the middle between Pecco (Bagnaia) and Marc (Marquez) and there was a great pace between them. At the end, he was very close to Pecco, not able to attack until the end but then defending very well on Marc, so a well-deserved second position. A well-deserved podium following the pole position, so a good performance today.

“Raul finished P6. He had some struggles during the race and he couldn’t optimise his performance, also his physical condition. Anyway, P6 in the Sprint on a difficult weekend for him is a great result. We are happy about that and all together, we scored points and also collected quite interesting information for tomorrow. We’ll try to put everything into tomorrow’s race and try to do better.”

Aki Ajo – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“A challenging day today here in Brno. Last year this was a strong race for us and expectations were high for this weekend but, as we see, competition is tough, and the lap-times have improved a lot. Qualifying was not our best and that made the Sprint a bit more tricky and unfortunately Pedro and Maverick, the quickest KTMs so far, crashed out. Pedro had a technical issue that we know will be fixed for the longer race tomorrow, where we also hope and feel we have the chance to make a comeback. The positives today were that Enea and Brad could come back strongly – even though the grid positions were not ideal – and to get both of them in the points was satisfactory.”

Nicolas Goyon – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“Mixed fortunes for Tech3 today. Enea was blocked this morning. In Q1 he could have improved his position, but he only qualified in a disappointing 17th position. But he had a good start and rode at an interesting pace. We saw a strong Enea today. Even considering all the crashes around him, he managed to survive and seventh position is a strong result. This gives us some hope for tomorrow’s main race.

“On the other side, I’m pretty pleased with Maverick’s performance. He’s clearly made a step up in this round and he really looks like the Maverick we had in the first part of last year. He controls his bike more and seems to be riding like he used to last year. He failed to go through into Q2, but he qualified in 13th position. Unfortunately, he had an early crash in the Sprint, so we’ll only see his potential tomorrow for the main race. We’re hoping he can score some strong points for the first time this season.”

Gino Borsoi – Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“Honestly, it was a very positive Sprint race, especially from Toprak‘s side of the garage. He showed strong pace throughout the race and, significantly, set his fastest lap on the final lap.

“That is an important sign because Brno is a circuit where we expected to face some difficulties due to the characteristics of the track. Even so, Toprak was able to maintain one of his smallest gaps to the front group since the beginning of the season, which confirms the progress he is making. Starting from the back and still producing that kind of performance shows how much he has improved. Qualifying remains an area where we need to make another step, but his race execution today was excellent.

“On Jack‘s side, we are still trying to fully understand the situation. He was struggling more than expected and reported difficulties, particularly regarding engine performance, which prevented him from being as competitive as he should have been. We know Jack is capable of much more, so we will analyse everything carefully and work to give him a better package for tomorrow‘s race.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“While we, so far, don’t quite have the pace we had hoped for here, the feeling at this circuit is already a lot better than at previous rounds. It was a demanding Sprint in very hot conditions – maybe the hottest we have faced so far this season – so that makes today’s data very interesting for us. Fabio and Alex gave it their maximum, and while there were no points in it for us today, we have gathered useful information. We will analyse everything overnight and aim to make a step forward for the Race. Alex was handed an 8s penalty post-Sprint for failing to meet the tyre pressure limit, which we accept.”

Brno MotoGP Event Top Speeds

Pos	Rider	Bike	Speed	Event
1	M Bezzecchi	Apr	328.2	PR
2	E Bastianini	KTM	327.2	Q1
3	M Marquez	Duc	327.2	Sprint
4	J Martin	Apr	326.2	Sprint
5	A Marquez	Duc	326.2	Q1
6	F Bagnaia	Duc	326.2	Practice
7	P Acosta	KTM	325.3	Sprint
8	A Ogura	Apr	325.3	Sprint
9	F Di Giannantonio	Duc	325.3	Sprint
10	B Binder	KTM	325.3	Q1
11	D Moreira	Hon	324.3	Q2
12	J Mir	Hon	324.3	Sprint
13	L Marini	Hon	323.3	Q1
14	R Fernandez	Apr	323.3	Q2
15	F Morbidelli	Duc	323.3	Q1
16	M Vinales	KTM	323.3	Practice
17	C Crutchlow	Hon	322.3	Q1
18	A Rins	Yam	322.3	Q1
19	J Miller	Yam	321.4	Q1
20	F Aldeguer	Duc	321.4	Sprint
21	T Razgatlioglu	Yam	321.4	Q1
22	F Quartararo	Yam	320.4	Sprint

Brno MotoGP Combined Qualifying Times

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap		Speed
1	A Ogura	Apr	1m51.139		325.3
2	F Di Giannantonio	Duc	1m51.350	+0.211	321.4
3	F Bagnaia	Duc	1m51.383	+0.244	324.3
4	M Bezzecchi	Apr	1m51.428	+0.289	322.3
5	M Marquez	Duc	1m51.436	+0.297	323.3
6	D Moreira	Hon	1m51.691	+0.552	324.3
7	R Fernandez	Apr	1m51.772	+0.633	323.3
8	P Acosta	KTM	1m51.821	+0.682	324.3
9	F Morbidelli	Duc	1m51.851	+0.712	321.4
10	J Martin	Apr	1m51.909	+0.770	324.3
11	F Aldeguer	Duc	1m52.044	+0.905	320.4
12	J Mir	Hon	1m52.084	+0.945	323.3
13	M Vinales	KTM	1m52.053	+0.914*	321.4
14	A Marquez	Duc	1m52.086	+0.947*	326.2
15	F Quartararo	Yam	1m52.185	+1.046*	317.6
16	L Marini	Hon	1m52.263	+1.124*	323.3
17	E Bastianini	KTM	1m52.357	+1.218*	327.2
18	J Miller	Yam	1m52.420	+1.281*	321.4
19	A Rins	Yam	1m52.506	+1.367*	322.3
20	B Binder	KTM	1m52.556	+1.417*	325.3
21	T Razgatlioglu	Yam	1m52.626	+1.487*	321.4
22	C Crutchlow	Hon	1m53.599	+2.460*	322.3