MotoGP riders reflect on opening day of practice at COTA

MotoGP 2023

Round Three – COTA

MotoGP Friday Quotes from COTA

Jorge Martin – P1

“Happy with the result today, but we are still far from our best shape, the bike was working well but I feel really, really bad, really weak, and I have no strength, I feel like we struggle every corner, but one lap we did okay, so happy about this. I managed practice to conserve energy and hopefully I can work well for qualifying.”

Pecco Bagnaia – P2

“It was a good first day, and I am happy. Compared to last year, the track has gotten worse: there is not much grip and many holes. All in all, we managed to be very fast already. I felt great with the medium tyre on the rear, and tomorrow we will try to do more laps with the soft to see how it behaves. We focused our work today on fixing the front: we have to find the right compromise that will allow us to be fast in every sector, given the irregular surface of the asphalt, but we are close to finding a solution, and tomorrow we will continue to work in this direction.”

Alex Rins – P3

“I’m pleased after today’s result; I’ve felt comfortable on the bike. I’ve always liked this track, and even though there are still some areas to improve, we’ve confirmed our step forward. I want to thank the team for their job”.

Luca Marini – P4

“A great day, a beautiful Friday. We are always in front and this is positive. We are working, in FP3 we will also try the medium compound with which Pecco was very strong, even if I understand that he prefers the soft. We have also to decide which tire to use on the front because I wasn’t perfect with the hard. In any case, we will test it to see if there is a possibility of using it in the long race. In terms of settings, we took a step back, we went back to the base of the Portimao test and I immediately felt good. Let’s stay focused, tomorrow, as always, will be the key day.”

Alex Marquez – P5

“The direct seed to Q2 was one of the weak points of this start of the season, and we managed to fix it today. I did a good lap, on my own, and this is really good confidence-wise because now we know we can be among the fastest riders already from the Friday. Generally speaking, we were competitive also in FP1, but we still have to do some fine tuning in the last two sectors in order to be in the first group.”

Maverick Vinales – P6

“A positive day, especially because there was a clear improvement compared with last year. We were fast straight away both on the flying lap and in terms of pace, and I feel good in the saddle. The bike moves around a lot because of the bumps, but it’s like that for everyone and our bike is actually not performing badly at all in these conditions. It was important to go straight through to Q2 today and we did just that. For the qualifiers, a clean ride will be fundamental because it’s easy to make mistakes on this track. The goal is to qualify on the front row; it will take a perfect lap to do that but it is within our reach”.

Fabio Quartararo – P7

“The time attack was tricky for me. I wanted to push way too much. I hope we can find a solution for that tomorrow. I’m over-riding when we put in the soft tyre. I need to try to be calmer. I need to ride in the same way, but make sure to actually get the benefit of the soft tyre during qualifying.”

Aleix Espargaro – P9

“I’m satisfied with my performance today. I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired after a Friday practice. COTA is a circuit where you have to work a lot physically to adapt to the layout and the bumps. It will be a demanding weekend from this point of view, whereas on the technical side, we are constantly looking for a compromise between agility and stability. This morning I struggled a bit more because I couldn’t use the hard front tyre, the one I feel most comfortable with, but I’m pleased with the step forward in P2.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P11

“Compared to Argentina, we have struggled a little bit more, but it’s a kind of feeling I’ve already had on this track which is really demanding. I have to say, in any case, better than last year even if the bike is very nervous and I’m struggling to be as smooth on the bike as I wanted. The Q2 remains the goal, we have one more session at disposal to work more on the bike.”

Joan Mir – P12

“Today had some potential and I think without the crash at the end, we could have a chance to find half a tenth or so and stay in the top ten. But we didn’t get the chance and this is what it is – it happens in racing. In MotoGP now if you make just a small mistake or are missing something small, you go from sixth to 12th. I am not quite at 100% and this is maybe the most physical track on the calendar, so it is complicated. But tomorrow we have a good possibility of improving tomorrow.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P13

“I felt good this morning, and I believe we could do better in the afternoon, but I’ve struggled. The track surface is very bumpy, and we missed some rear grip. Let’s say that the conditions didn’t help us. We’ll change some details tomorrow in order to improve and be ready for the Sprint”.

Miguel Oliveira – P15

“Today was a bit different, I had two crashes in the same session which I have never experienced before. But overall, it was a good day. I think we have the potential to go faster than what I did today, which is good, so I need to take this into tomorrow as a positive. For sure, it’s not ideal to have to go into Q1 but we will make the most out of it and get a good qualifying for both races. I think we now have a good feeling on the bike, we did a couple of changes and they seem to work, so we will try to explore that direction further tomorrow.”

Franco Morbidelli – P16

“It was a medium difficult day. We improved from the morning to the afternoon, and that is positive. We were greedy for the time attack. We saw we had an improvement in the last run before the time attack, and we went even further in that direction. But the first time attack was average and in the second one I made two big mistakes as I was too much on the limit. Because of that, I couldn’t improve on the first time attack or set an interesting lap time. Pace-wise we are not there yet. It will be interesting to see if we can close the gap tomorrow. Let’s see.”

Michele Pirro – P17

“This morning, I was a little bit in trouble because the track is challenging and has many holes. Then, for the afternoon session, we made some changes to the bike that allowed me to find a better feeling, and I could lower my time from Practice 1. I am satisfied with this first day: I had fun, and we are not far from the top ten. The goal for tomorrow is to take a few more steps forward and get closer to the times of the front runners.”

Raul Fernandez – P18

“I think this is one of the most complicated track for a MotoGP bike but I am happy that day by day, I get to understand more about the bike. The problem is now we have to push and improve more throughout this weekend especially on soft tyre for the time attacks. It’s a completely new bike and it is different for me. We are in the third round of the championship and we are in the process to understand. In general, I feel good with the RS-GP, I have a couple of points that I have to work on to manage the bike. But for the race, to be honest I am really looking forward to. I was behind Aleix (Espargaro) and Francesco (Bagnaia) and managed to understand some different areas. I am enjoying myself and I know what I have to do and that is important.”

Fabio DiGiannantonio – P19

“It was a bit of a weird day because the feeling was a little bit peculiar: I can’t do what I normally find easy to do, meaning to be quick in the faster sections of the track. The bike understeers a lot and I can’t make it turn as good as I’d like. I’m covering a lot of ground and we’re slow. We need to understand how to improve and what to do ahead of tomorrow.”

Stefan Bradl – P20

“I was quite happy with how I was riding today even if I made a mistake at the end of the session. I could have gotten a few more positions if I finished that lap, but anyway it was a good day overall. It’s a really physical track, coming back to racing is always a challenge and here adds an extra element. Fortunately, I have always enjoyed riding here and I was able to improve my feeling quite quickly. Now we need to rest, set our plan for tomorrow and get ready for my first Sprint.”

Augusto Fernandez – P21

“This track with a MotoGP bike is a hard one, but we went step by step and improved throughout the day. We did a big improvement in the first half of Practice 2, I was getting closer to the other guys. Unfortunately, I crashed on my first time-attack lap which was a great shame. By the time I came back to the pit box and changed my leathers, I did not have much time left. We will continue the work tomorrow.”

Jonas Folger – P22

“Today was a real challenge for me, but I am happy with our first day, and I am also very pleased to be back with my old team, Tech3. I have a lot to learn and I obviously need to get used to the bike. We have some work to do with the ergo parts so that the bike can suit me well. I really need the next two days to get comfortable with the bike, so we will continue working hard to arrive in Jerez in the best shape possible.”

MotoGP Friday Practice Report

P1 saw Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) beat Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) to the top and it looked like they may have been Friday’s fastest times as rain clouds loomed large on the horizon. But it was not to be, as track conditions were back up to prime by the time the field headed out for FP2, and with that the times began to tumble.

With ten minutes to go red sectors were flooding the timing screens, with the pace getting hotter and hotter. Marini and Bagnaia were leading the way in that order until the reigning champion took charge and placed his factory Ducati at the top of the pile, but the final runs were still to come.

Silence fell on the circuit as the riders returned to the pitlane in the calm before the storm. Minutes later a whole gaggle of riders went out on circuit for the final bite at the cherry, but 2022 Championship rivals Bagnaia and Quartararo let the group take to the circuit and waited behind for clear space…

Martin, however, had other plans and moved the goalposts by almost half a second, leaving the rest to battle for the scraps. Bagnaia put in a hot lap soon after though and managed to close back in, but it wasn’t quite enough as he finishes the day 0.063s off. Rins also took up the challenge with a truly impressive third overall, getting to within 0.154 of the top to push Marini down to fourth.

For some, the final very lap was a no-go as Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) went down and brought out the yellow flags, also forcing the Repsol Honda Joan Mir to take evasive action, riders ok. There had been another moment of adrenaline earlier in the session for Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) too, who saved a massive moment that nearly saw the Spaniard fly over the handlebars. It was a good recovery and he ended Friday fifth.

Sixth went to Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) as Top Gun ends Day 1 as top Aprilia, with Quartararo getting shuffled a little further down the order in the afternoon to finish up in P7.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) took the final Q2 spots in 8th, 9th, and 10th respectively, making it both KTMs in the top ten for the first time since Motegi last year.

There is a very notable name missing there though: the Championship leader. Bezzecchi missed the cut by just 0.037s, and from 11th spot, the Argentina GP winner will have to fight his way through Q1 for a chance at pole. The Italian will have to fend off Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda CASTROL), Zarco, Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), and Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team), amongst those that will have to face Saturday’s Q1 session. Then after Q2 we have the Tissot Sprint Race…

MotoGP Friday Practice Results

MotoGP Championship Points

Moto2 Friday Practice

Pedroa Acosta improved his time dramatically late in the day to clinch top spot ahead of Arbolino, Canet, and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), the American kicking off his home GP with fourth place on Friday.

Other big hitters such as Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Somkiat Chantra (IDEMISTU Honda Team Asia) put themselves in provisional Q2 spots in 6th and 8th, and with an uncertain weather forecast ahead of FP3, this could be crucial for their chances of success.

Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) and Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) will have work to do from 15th and 17th, and will be hoping for dry conditions in FP3 for another chance at grabbing a Q2 spot.

Moto2 Friday Practice Results

Moto2 Championship Points

Moto3 Friday Practice

The dark clouds loomed over Austin Texas but the Moto3 riders were lucky to have a full day of dry running ahead of the weekend’s competitive action.

With uncertain weather conditions across the weekend, it was important for the big hitters to ensure a Q2 spot in the case of rain in Saturday’s FP3. The riders took to the track for Practice 2 and it took a while before there were any improvements on their morning efforts.

Rookie Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) suffered a big high side with 15 minutes remaining in the session.  Unfortunately for the Spaniard, the times began to tumble and the 2022 JuniorGP champion was knocked down to P12 from P9, but still remains in Q2 contention.

The final five minutes was when Sasaki put the hammer down. Ortola was the first to improve but the Japanese rider then moved the goalposts by almost half a second. Masia put in a brave effort to topple Sasaki, setting the fastest first sector but fell short by 0.176s.

Moto3 Friday Practice Results

Moto3 Championship Points

COTA AEST Schedule

2023 MotoGP Calendar