MotoGP riders reflect on Sachsenring – Jack Miller extended cut

MotoGP 2023

Round Seven – Sachsenring

Jorge Martin – P1

“I’m so emotional at the moment. After almost two years fighting for it, finally it came. It was a tough race. Pecco was pushing so hard. I had some issues in the middle of the race with the rear tyre, so I just tried to manage it. To be in front was my target. Even when he passed me, I tried to stay in front. In the last two laps, I was just trying to push to the maximum. I thought Pecco had something else but maybe I saved the tyre a little bit more at the beginning of the race. I’m super happy. I’m focused on the next one, this is hopefully the first step. We are getting closer and this is the main thing. Thank you to my people and family who supported me last season. We are ready for everything.”

Pecco Bagnaia – P2

“That was fun! We found something more since yesterday, the pace today was incredible and I wasn’t expecting it. I think to beat Jorge we needed something more today but we were very close, we touched twice! I’m happy with the result and happy for him, he deserved the win so let’s now move on to Assen with a great feeling. He was able to be closer compared to me in the exit of the corners, I was just trying to maximise the feeling and it was OK, in the last lap I tried to get back to him but for sure we have to improve on circuits where the bike turns more. Now we move on to Assen next week, one of my favourite tracks!”

Johann Zarco – P3

“The speed since Friday morning was good, that was good to work on the base and thinking about the podiums in the Sprint race and also the long race. Today the start was also good, the fight at the beginning of the race, the first lap was quite tough. When I could see Aleix strong with the soft rear tyre I was feeling I also had this possibility to use a lot of grip at the beginner of the race, from that moment after the first lap I start to have had very good lap times and I overtook the others. Marini and Binder were pretty fast, but I could come back on them, Marini started to drop on the rear tyre. I tried to control my rear tyre between me and Brad. When Brad made the mistake, I had a lap to get the full focus and my reference, and I tried to control the gap to Bezecchi, and that was under control, but when I came into the first brake I saw some movement in the first corner and I was thinking maybe they were fighting, in the moment thinking maybe something happened, I’d gained a position, I closed the front and went quite wide, and the last lap I did in 23.5 I was under stress and good to finish like this.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P4

“I really enjoyed it, I needed it after yesterday’s race. Many overtakings and a great recovery. In the Sprint I have struggled, while today with the medium at the rearI was able to ride as I wanted and get the bike to turn well. This morning we made a last-minute change in terms of setting and it went well. I recover many positions and managed the tires in the final stages. I’m happy, the glass is definitely half full.”

Luca Marini – P5

“Compared to yesterday, the sensations were better with the medium at the rear. In terms of settings, I had the same little problems as in the Sprint, I wasn’t able to be as fast as I wanted. Something was missing, I was slow in the middle of the corner and I wasn’t able to be incisive in the entry. Overall I’m happy, two more Top5s and a solid weekend. I’m not at 100% with the bike yet, but we have another race in a very few days to be able to work hard again.”

Jack Miller – P6

“Sixth here in Germany, a podium in the sprint race and some good points on Sunday… it’s hard to be too unhappy with that, even if both races were kind of the same as each other 24 hours apart.

“Both races, I made an awesome start – the KTM, she definitely gets off the line well – and my biggest issue on Saturday was the Waterfall, Turn 11 here, because you could see I was just slow there compared to the others. The boys were going around the outside of me which shows you how slow I was there, I was being too conservative on the way in. I was missing a bit of confidence in that section of the track, but I was super happy to be third and be back on the podium on a Saturday.

“The will was definitely there to get that part of the track right on Sunday, and I made an awesome start again and got to the Waterfall in first and then … yeah, I definitely needed to change the jocks after that one. There was a bit too much commitment on my side and I nearly became a statistic … it was pretty close as I lost the rear end, and as it came back the front started going. Definitely shit myself there! I was able to regroup, but it definitely shook me a little and I was approaching that corner a little bit more carefully for the next 5-10 laps, just building into it. It was my only real moment throughout the race, I rode within my limits after that and then really tried to push hard at the end, but it was too little, too late.

“Sixth is alright because I was just missing a little bit of outright speed, just in general more than anything really terrible. As the other boys were able to eke out a tenth (of a second) here and there, that builds up over the first half of the race. We stayed very stable for much of the race punching out very similar lap times, and I started coming back towards (Luca) Marini and (Marco) Bezzecchi there towards the end, but we just need to find that little bit more raw speed at the beginning of the race without destroying tyres. Our pace isn’t bad, it’s consistent, but it’s not fantastic at the beginning of the races.

“I was kind of in a massive Ducati sandwich finishing sixth, because there were five of them ahead of me and another three of them behind! They’re all there, so that’s the challenge we’ve got at the moment. At least (KTM teammate) Brad (Binder) and I are approaching it with the right mindset … I mean, there’s no point complaining about it, all we can do it try to make our bike better than theirs. I know from my time there that the Ducati wasn’t always the bike to be on, they started from some rocky ground, so there’s no reason why we can’t get the KTM there and beyond. We’re still very early on in this project, so to be the only ones there challenging these Ducatis is bloody good.

“So, another decent weekend here, and I’m happy to roll onto Assen now and get the triple-header done. Every circuit is fun for us this year and we can have a crack at it, that’s the beauty of me riding a new bike … you come to these circuits where you know how you’ve performed in the past, but yet you still feel different. And Assen is somewhere you always go back to with a smile on your face because of my first win there. A long time ago! But it’s always in the back of your mind every time you arrive there, always will be.

“Last year, I felt really good at Assen and was fighting for the podium even with a long-lap penalty, so fingers crossed we can have a good crack at that again next weekend.”

Alex Marquez – P7

“We surely bagged some more important points. Too bad for losing so much time behind Aleix (Espargaró) who started the race with soft tyres and in the first laps he tried – rightfully so – to defend his position. When I got past him it was unfortunately too late to bridge the gap with the leaders, even though my pace was top-five worthy. We’re happy and if we managed to solve some set-up issue earlier, we would be talking about a different type of result.”

Enea Bastianini – P8

“Today’s race went well and I am happy. I am still not totally back to normal, but we are close. I didn’t expect to be able to do this performance after Mugello, but I feel good. This was a less demanding track, and while I had to take a day off after the Italian GP, now I feel ready to go back to training right away! Today’s race showed that ours is a really good package, but I think Jorge and Pecco also made the difference compared to the other Ducati riders. I still don’t know the GP23 that well, but I hope I can soon get to fight with them and for the top 5 after the summer break.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P9

“We had a great race, maybe my best so far. We completed several overtaking manoeuvres on a track where it’s almost impossible to pass. I’m really happy, even though it’s a shame that we started so far back because the pace was really good. We’re charged up for Assen.”

Miguel Oliveira – P10

“It is a pleasing result, especially because we could be competitive and challenging every lap for the best we can. I couldn’t really push myself to the maximum, because once I lose strength in the left shoulder, it felt like it can pop out again. So, I really had to protect myself and ride in a way that I’m not really comfortable with. Anyway, it’s a good effort from me and the team and we look forward to go to Assen and see how the Aprilia performs there.”

Augusto Fernandez – P11

“Happy to finish in the points again and also because we had a strong pace all race. I think we could have been better than 11th- maybe top ten – but I paid the price for a bad start. Anyway, the bike worked well, we made steps again and every GP things are getting better and a bit easier for me. We’ll keep going.”

Franco Morbidelli – P12

“If I look at the final race time, it would have been enough to fight for the race win last year, but this year we are 12th. This means we didn’t improve enough, though I did improve a lot. If I look at the improvements we made compared to last year: the situation now is much better. But if we look at the overall situation, we are struggling. We know this. We did the maximum this weekend, and the crew did a wonderful job in making all the right moves and choices. I’m happy about that. We just have to carry on, arrive in Assen with the same mentality, and do better on the Friday. If we can do better on Fridays, I think we can also have better Saturdays and Sundays.”

Fabio Quartararo – P13

“We took a gamble with the soft rear tyre, but it didn‘t work. I think Aleix had the same. I could overtake him on the last lap. Unfortunately, today it was just a matter of trying a, for us, new tyre for the race. It was the wrong choice in the end. But we had to try, and we gave it our maximum.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P14

“Honestly, it’s been a challenging race. This weekend we couldn’t find a solution to be closer to our rivals, the gap is big. We must understand how to fix the feeling with the front end to fight for the top positions”.

Raul Fernandez – P15

“Our weekend was super difficult after the crash. I think I crashed too fast and lost some confidence. But today, I believe we have improved a lot on the pace. I’d like to compare with another rider with the same bike as me, so today I compared with Miguel as he was the fastest rider for Aprilia and I saw that our pace was very similar. I’m really happy with our job, Aprilia is working very hard to close the gap to the top and I believe a lot on that. So now we will go to Assen, Aprilia did a fantastic job there last year especially with Aleix (Espargaro), he had a super fast pace there. Our goal is to see our full potential and I have a lot of confidence that we will improve.”

Aleix Espargaro – P16

“I think that with the medium tyre, I would have been able to finish easily in the top 10. However, the data from the Sprint race yesterday seemed to indicate wear that was not too excessive for the soft and that’s why we decided to use it. The decision did not pay off. In the finale I basically had no grip. We were lacking in performance this weekend, as the results from the other Aprilias also shows, on a track where we did not expect to encounter these difficulties.”

Jonas Folger – P17

“A nice race, I enjoyed it even though I still couldn’t do the pace I wanted. We still need to improve our grip and turning, and we have to keep working on that. We have to look at the first part of our braking process. I was riding alone for the most part today but I enjoyed the laps and the atmosphere here. Thanks again to the team.”

Maverick Vinales – DNF

“The weekend had started off well straight away but then we were unable to express our potential. If we work well, we know that we can be fast, but evidently there were some problems which conditioned our performance. We still don’t know if this stems from a problem with the engine that forced me to retire. We’ll analyse the data in-depth now and try to figure it out. It’s a shame but complaining won’t help anything. We still believe in the project and we’ll keep our heads down and continue to work hard. The positive note is that I recovered positions in both starts – yesterday in the Sprint race and today in the GP – so from this point of view there was improvement.”

Brad Binder – DNF

“I had quite a good start and things were going well. My guys did a great job with the bike and I felt amazing. I was riding very clean and saving my tire. I could not run the pace of the first two guys but I was set in 3rd. Unfortunately, when I grabbed the front brake at the bottom of the hill I locked the front wheel a little bit and my left foot slipped off the footpeg. I was then going wide and off the track. I kept the lean angle but when I came to pick it up, the rear let go on me and I ended up crashing. Disappointing because I know I could have at least fought for a podium and the team deserved it. Thanks to the guys for all their hard work. Let’s give it a go next week.”

Team Managers

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager

“A shame today. Brad said the bike was working better for him today compared to yesterday and he had a better feeling. He had a moment while losing the front, he tried to save it but then crashed when he hit the gravel. He is fine and will be ready for the next race but it was a shame he could not get his podium. Jack made a great start but then had a big moment down the hill. He had good race pace but lacked that perfect feeling to make positions back. Onto Assen now and the last race of this triple-header. We gathered more good information this weekend but we just feel a bit bad for Brad that he missed the podium.”

Pablo Nieto – VR46 Team Manager

“Another good team performance by the whole Team with two other important placements, crucial for the classification. Marco didn’t dare too much in the very first laps, but he managed to be incisive in the middle of the race and close the gap up to P4, proving he did a great job over the full weekend. Luca also did very well, practically confirming yesterday’s position and bringing home two key results. We go to Assen motivated to continue in this direction.”

Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Team Director

“We have used today‘s 30-lap race to gather data and try some things for future reference. We also took a gamble with the tyre choice, but it didn‘t pay off. We got some useful data out of it, but we can‘t be satisfied about the results. It‘s been a weekend to forget. We need to regroup for the upcoming round in Assen next week. It will be the final GP before the summer break, and we want to end this first half of the season on a positive note.”

Razlan Razali – CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team Principal

“It was a very nerve-wracking race, but we are extremely pleased and excited for both riders to finish in the points. Each time we see a yellow flag, we are very worried whether it’s one of our riders considering we have been crashing a lot. But we’re happy that both riders scored points with Miguel in 10th and Raul in 15th. It’s a good feeling, we are safe and we should be fit for Assen. We look forward to the next round and we hope that this is a turnaround for the team. So, congratulations again to both Miguel and Raul.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team Manager

“It was a very beautiful day, the weather was great and it was great for racing. Both boys were in the points and of course that made us very happy, especially because of where we came from and as we are still in the process of recovering. Miguel got P10 but halfway through the race with his condition, it was like riding with one and a half arm. He has not made a full race after the crash in Jerez. It’s also kind of a training for him to see how fit he is and what we need to do especially during the break. For Raul, I was happy to see him fighting in a group for the points. Saying that, he was fighting with Fabio (Quartararo), Franco (Morbidelli) and Takaaki (Nakagami), and it was important for these boys to gain confidence again after a couple of difficult rounds, so let’s focus on this process. To have both riders in the points at the moment of this season is very important.”

Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager

“This P11 for Augusto is a strong conclusion to the German GP and it has been a positive weekend overall for the team. Augusto learned all through the weekend, as always, and getting close to the top ten is a good result. He made a small mistake at the start and lost three positions right away but caught the guys back after saving a big ‘moment’. He showed good potential and made a lot of fast laps. We’re super-happy with the job he is doing. It was a more complicated race for Jonas as he lacked some feeling with the front tire and that meant he could not relax into a pace but he made the checkered flag and brought some more experience and information for us. Now we move to Assen for the finale of these three races in a row.”

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