MotoGP riders reflect on the triumphs and tribulations of the Dutch TT

2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round Eight – Motul TT Assen
MotoGP Riders Reflect

Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“I really had fun this weekend and everything went perfectly. I’d like to thank the team because we did a fantastic job: on Thursday we already had a clear idea regarding the bike set-up and after FP1 we were basically ready. The race today was 30 seconds faster than last year, which is incredible. I managed to be quick and precise, the weather was fantastic and we were able to show our full potential. Next is Sachsenring, where I expect two hard-fought races.”

Jorge Martin – P2

“I have no excuse today.  I can congratulate Pecco for what he did. It was incredible. I feel really happy because I feel, I was confident that was fast. I was braking late, opening early on and doing really good corner speed.  So I did my maximum. I think I feel I am a better writer than I was on Friday. So this is my target every weekend, trying to improve myself, trying to improve the bike. And I think we, we did our, our target. That was that. And the maximum I could take today was second. So I am happy. A good points for example, see, but really solid the weekend and on my page was great. I saw the riders  behind were three or four-tenths slower per lap. So then I saw that it wasn’t, it was useless to keep pushing, to try to keep passing. And then I just tried to finish the race.”

Enea Bastianini – P3

“It was incredible, even though the race itself was a bit of a strange one. I tried to push hard from the beginning, but I was struggling a bit with the rear end, especially on the exit of the right-hand corners. The feeling improved lap after lap and, when the others slowed down a little, I managed to keep my pace and also push a bit more. I managed to bridge the gap to the riders fighting for the podium: I gave it a go and have fun with some overtakes and ended up third. Obviously, I knew Pecco was out of reach and Martín also did a good job in trying to stay with him, so it’s good this way. I’m very happy and I’d like to thank the team for the work done because two days ago we were not in the position to do well, while now we’re on the podium.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P4

“I’m really happy, we’re working hard and we finally fought for the podium and to be the first GP23 to crossing the finishing line (he wasn’t, Marc Marquez was, but was subsequently demoted to 10th). What a great fight in the group! A pity for the third place, but at a certain point I had to let them overtake me because the temperature of the front tire was dropping too much and in this type of condition in Assen it’s easy to make a mistake. In any case I’m happy and very proud of the Team: let’s keep going like this!”

Maverick Vinales – P5

“I gave one hundred per cent during the race. I am obviously pleased, but not entirely satisfied because the level we are demonstrating is truly high. The bike moved around a lot and that made direction changes difficult. In spite of this, I think that the RS-GP24 is competitive.”

Brad Binder – P6

“Quite a hectic race. I decided to go with the soft rear tire because I felt there might be more potential to go with the boys in front but the reality was that they could put down a super-fast pace with the medium and we just burnt the tire to go with them. It was tricky, for sure. I would have liked to have walked away with a better result but I left nothing on the table. We have some work to do. My feeling is not terrible. I understand the front limit and I didn’t crash at all this weekend. We just need to find more speed.”

Alex Marquez – P7

“It was a difficult race, even though overall it was a positive weekend. We struggled to make the bike turn with the hard front tyre, but we would have struggled too much with the soft option. We’ll need to work already in Germany to understand how to improve. Today’s data will surely be useful for the upcoming races, we have a clear idea and let’s hope we can put them into fruition already at the Sachsenring.”

Raul Fernandez – P8

“I’m happy with the result but not happy when I saw that we lost quite a lot to the leaders. It’s hard to find the way to improve our bike but I know we have the margin to improve. We are working on the electronics and we are working well, but it’s not enough yet. It’s important for us to keep working on this side seeing that Maverick (Viñales) was quite competitive and fighting for the podium until the end. We need to improve our electronics in order to enable me to exploit the maximum potential of this bike but I do think we did a really good job. This morning, I was in pain over my full body after the crash yesterday, but thanks to the health center that did a really good job with me, I felt super well in the race. Of course, I felt some pain, but I had a good level and I’m happy to be inside the top 10 again. It’s quite interesting for the team and for me to see how good our progress is and that’s what we need to keep doing in the future – trying to fight to be in Q2 and after that doing our maximum and giving Aprilia all of our information to improve the bike for the future.”

Marc Marquez – P10 (After being demoted from fourth)

“Unfortunately, even if by very little, we’re outside the technical parameters regarding tyre pressure and therefore we accept the penalty. It’s really a shame to leave here with such few points: we could have scored two fourth place finishes but… The coming together with Bastianini surely played a part but we’re not looking for excuses, I was playing well with tyre pressure until that moment. Let’s wrap up this weekend and turn our focus on Germany.”

Jack Miller – P11

“Getting back to Assen is always enjoyable – the Cathedral of Speed as they call it definitely lives up to its name each time we visit. With various turns and high-speed sections, it tests all aspects of the rider and the bike.

“We knuckled down as soon as we arrived in Assen, focused on the job at hand and put our best foot forward in dialling in the RC16. The opening sessions presented a bit of a challenge as we were down the order in practice, but we kept plugging away and reviewing the data to make progress.

“One issue seemed to lead to another in practice, although we got on top of a few things entering the Sprint Race. Managed to have a nice battle with Pedro and the boys which I enjoyed, but we still had a bit of work to do overnight to climb up the order…13th was our finishing position for that one.

“For the Feature Race, that was our best showing in a while, to be honest. We made a big change in the morning, which had the bike working quite well. Decent start for us, then dropped off slightly in the early stages, but was able to fight my way back into the race later on.

“Really, it was super nice to have some confidence in the front end, which took me a while to take full advantage of. We’re still plugging away, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but we made big progress this weekend and we’ll look to take it to the next one.

“P11 feels good here in Assen, nice to get a result on the board, and I feel like this is the inkling of momentum we need to trend things in the right direction.”

Fabio Quartararo – P12

“I expected to do better at the beginning, especially in the first laps. With the softs, the grip was bad. During all the Race, the grip was much less than I expected. I couldn’t really push. Then at the end, I was feeling a bit better from mid-race onwards, but the pace was already too slow. Let’s see if we can improve at the Sachsenring.”

Johann Zarco – P13

“We did a good step; fighting for the points has been important for us. Compared to yesterday’s Sprint, we’ve controlled the situation better, which is positive. We are working hard to be at the level of our competitors. Overall, I’ve felt comfortable on the bike and am happy to have enjoyed today’s race”.

Augusto Fernandez – P14

“I did not have a good feeling on the bike at any point of the weekend, so it was very hard for me here. After the sprint, we were hoping for improvements today, but the feeling did not really get better. We managed to finish the race, which I am happy about anyway because I was on two early DNFs in the last rounds. Let’s move on to Germany and see if we can be a bit more competitive at the Sachsenring.”

Miguel Oliveira – P15

“It was a decent first half of the race as I could do competitive lap times. I didn’t manage to repeat my great start from yesterday, especially in the first lap and later on, I didn’t see the track limit warning on my dash and when I realized it, I just had to do a long lap. When I attempted to do it, to lose the least time possible, I went wide and into the gravel, lost a lot of time there and I had to repeat it. So, the race was pretty much finished. Onto the next one!”

Takaaki Nakagami – P16

“Today’s race was hard, I couldn’t push the way I wanted. We are struggling. I tried to fight for the points and almost reached that goal. We’ll see if we can improve next week at the Sachsenring”.

Luca Marini – P17

“This weekend was full of bad luck for us, in today’s race I had the pace to fight with Zarco. Augusto Fernandez made contact with me early in the race and I went into the gravel, losing a lot of time. I really thing I had the potential to finish in the points. It’s clear that we need to keep on working and I think a fast track like Assen gives us some insight into what areas are most critical. It’s really good to have Sachsenring now, to have a better race before another break.”

Joan Mir – DNF

“During the start I had made some progress and was with the group fighting for the top ten. I was happy with my speed and breaking away from the riders behind and my feeling was improving with every lap. I was trying hard in Sector 1 to recover the time I was losing in other parts of the track and in turn three I leant just a little bit too much and lost the front. I am a rider that is always going to try for more, and sometimes this means we fall. That ended our race. We can see the areas we need to work during the break.”

Pedro Acosta – DNF

“We need to take the positives, because even after a difficult weekend for us, we were able to be competitive in the race. It is tough to understand the crash because I had eased things down within the final laps to finish in a good way. Maybe the tyres cooled down too much, it was a strange crash. Sad to end the weekend on this note, but let’s continue working, we are improving and getting closer and closer each weekend.”

Marco Bezzecchi – DNF

“I have struggled a lot all the weekend: even today in the race, I couldn’t get into the rhythm and then I crashed. I lost the front, the first touch of gas is always complicated. I have understeer, the rear pushes a lot and in these situations it’s easy to crash. Too bad, it’s a difficult moment, but we don’t give up and we continue to work to get closer.”

Alex Rins – DNF

“I had a very hard crash at the start. I’m already on my way to Madrid, where I will undergo further medical checks to understand the severity of the injuries in my right wrist and right foot. I hope to have updates soon.”

Team Managers

Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager

“It was an incredible weekend, after another memorable one at Mugello. Pecco put together a weekend without any single mistake as he set it up perfectly on Friday and kept the same level up to today’s chequered flag. I must congratulate him because once again he’s shown the type of champion he is. Enea also had a great race today and I believe he could have battle for at least second place had it not started from the fourth row. To see him overtaking his opponents in such decisive and precise way is surely an excellent sign and we hope he can continue this way at the Sachsenring.”

Pablo Nieto – VR46 Team Manager

“What a great weekend for Fabio, I’m really happy for the whole Team. It’s a shame to have lost the third place in the final, but a race like that, in a fight for the whole distance, really gives you confidence. The podium is getting closer and closer, we have to be patient, but it will come. Marco has struggled a lot, yesterday’s crash, the first, was really strong. It’s complicated to regain confidence after these episodes. We continue to work to turn the page in Germany in a few days.”

Massimo Rivola – Aprilia Racing

“After starting from the front row and then the great result in the sprint race, we were aiming for a better outcome. Maverick gave one hundred percent, as he did on Saturday, but the gap behind the winner was still significant. Now we need to hope for a miraculous recovery for Aleix ahead of the Sachsenring and for Lorenzo so he can continue developing the bike. I hope to see them both back on the track soon.”

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“We have some homework to do. Overall, the weekend was not too bad. Brad had a direct Q2 on Friday and a decent Sprint considering the front tire pressure. Our expectation was a bit higher for today but he struggled to run the pace of the front group. We have some useful information and we have to work very hard in the next days. For Jack, despite the position, he has the feeling that he is ‘back’. We made a strong change from yesterday and he was growing with the new set-up. Another little point where we can start again. Let’s try for more in Germany next weekend.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Trackhouse Team Manager

“The Dutch Grand Prix is done. We got a very nice top 10 place for Raul with P8, which is a great result. Saying that, we could have had a couple of more points with Miguel. He went off track, exceeding limits a couple of times and he didn’t get the warning, so he was surprised. He did the long lap but made a mistake and had to do it again. Finally, only one point for him, which is a bit disappointing. But, we have both riders in the points, which is not easy at the moment and especially pleasing with one rider in P8. Now we’re looking forward – Sachsenring is coming up and I think we have a good base set-up, both boys are fit, so let’s go ahead to Germany.”

Davide Brivio – Trackhouse Team Principal

“It wasn’t an easy day, but we should take the positives. Raul came from a surgery on his arm, which looks like a proper solution to his problem in the earlier races and he didn’t have any issue during the race, so that’s very good. He started well, finished eighth, he tried to stay there and had a good pace in the middle of the race. There are some lessons to take from this race, some things we can improve on the bike, even for Sachsenring and now the engineers are looking for a setting that might help Raul. Miguel has been doing well, both yesterday and today until he got this long lap. First of all, he didn’t really realize where he went beyond the track limits, which is obviously difficult to see and this was the same as Raul yesterday. Miguel’s case was really weird, he had a long lap penalty, which he completed, but then he went out off the track in the gravel and came back. Then he got another long lap penalty because he didn’t complete it correctly. I think that’s a little bit too much. The purpose of a long lap penalty is to lose some time, normally around three seconds and he lost 10 seconds because he went into the dirt and then he had to do it all again. Anyway, overall, we scored points. Miguel finished 15th with one point and this even despite the circumstances. So, let’s go to Sachsenring and continue our journey.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“It’s been a difficult Race today at the TT Assen. We knew, realistically speaking, that our starting positions would make it tough to make much progress. Fabio did well to defend his place during the first half of the Race, but we can’t be satisfied with 12th position and need to keep working. Álex was very unlucky to have such a big crash in the first corner, especially after a decent start. The punishment didn’t fit the crime. He hurt his right hand and foot and will return to Madrid to consult his doctor. We are lucky that the injury is not worse, but he will likely still need to have surgery. We will release a further update as soon as we have more information.”

Nicolas Goyon – Tech3 GASGAS Team Manager

“Cold conclusion to our weekend in Assen, which has probably been one of the most difficult since the start of the season. The two points scored by Augusto Fernandez is just a small reward after a tricky weekend during which he never really felt comfortable, but let’s use these two points as a little cheer up to remain motivated to continue exploring different directions. On Pedro Acosta’s side, the weekend was not easy either. Of course, we had some highs, but crashing at the last lap while being in P7 is enough to show that he did not feel too comfortable on the bike, which has been the general feeling of the weekend. The race was thirty second faster than in 2023, which shows how competitive the premier class is, and clearly we need to improve our package to help our riders to perform better. We are now off to a very different circuit, Sachsenring, so let’s see what we can do there!”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin

“The Assen TT Circuit is a very technical track, with sequences that generate a lot of stress on the tyres. Even if the surface is not among the most abrasive of the season, we nevertheless decided to intervene on the front tyres by repositioning the Hard compound Michelin Power Slick. It was also a question of responding to the evolution of the motorcycles, which are ever more efficient and loaded with aerodynamics. The decision proved to be judicious and the riders who selected this option expressed their satisfaction to us. I would also like to highlight the great versatility of the rear Michelin Power Slick tyres. The Soft, which gave complete satisfaction on Saturday on a very hot track without showing any signs of performance degradation, and the Medium on Sunday. The latter allowing the riders to achieve lap times identical to those of the Soft, while providing great consistency throughout the whole race.”

MotoGP will be back in action in less than five days for the German Grand Prix, taking place at the Sachsenring on July 5-7.

MotoGP Assen Race Results

Assen MotoGP Top Speeds Across Weekend

MotoGP Championship Standings

2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar (Updated)