MotoGP riders reflect on the ups and downs of the San Marino GP

MotoGP 2022 – Round 14 – Misano

Riders and Team Managers

Francesco Bagnaia – P1

“Today was a really tough race. In the first few laps, I didn’t have any grip at the front or the rear, and I was afraid to push: I could feel Maverick very close, and I could only brake hard to try to put him in trouble and avoid him overtaking me. When the weight in the tank dropped, the grip improved, and I could pick up the pace and push to the end. We are now 30 points behind Quartararo, but the fight for the Championship remains tough, and we can’t afford any mistakes. We have to stay focused and think race by race.”

Enea Bastianini – P2

“I had a strange feeling with the tyres at the beginning, as they didn’t get into perfect temperature. From halfway point I was then able to find back the right feeling. I tried all I could until the end, first at turn 14 and then at the last corner I wanted to win, but I had made a mistake before and then towards the finish line Pecco closed the door shut and there was nothing I could do. It’s great to be on the podium with this livery and on such a special circuit for me.”

Maverick Vinales – P3

“We have grown, but we can’t stop here. We want to win! I had an extremely good pace today but I was unable to find the right space to overtake Bagnaia. He rode a perfect race without making any mistakes, whereas I started struggling a bit more at a certain point. Rather than crashing, taking points home and continuing to learn in view of the upcoming races was important. We’ll have our chance to make up for it. Aprilia is working brilliantly and I’m happy to have two days of tests here.”

Luca Marini – P4

“A great race and a really constant pace for all the laps. An excellent job by the whole Team: we started a bit far from the top places on Friday, but we recovered and today we were so fast. There is really a great atmosphere in the Team, a good atmosphere and I am happy with these solid results that are coming just in front of this amazing crowd at Misano. We were missing perhaps a tenth on the pace to be able to fight for the podium, the top three guys had something more, more experience, but we were there. We will continue to work, we take full advantage of the testing session on Tuesday and Wednesday to close the season finale in the best possible way.”

Fabio Quartararo – P5

“It was a tough race, but it was actually one of the first races that I was behind another bike without a problem of the front tyre overheating or the front tyre pressure. I had more or less the same pace I had during practice. Of course, behind a rival I was struggling a bit more to make my pace than when riding alone. This fifth place is the position we deserved today. I had nothing more to give.”

Aleix Espargaro – P6

“I’m satisfied with the result because I was unable to be particularly fast throughout the weekend. Even compared with Maverick, I just didn’t have the same pace on this track. I said at the beginning of the season that Austria and Misano would be complicated races for me. At the end of the day, I got through them, maintaining the same gap that I had over Fabio before Assen. Starting farther ahead would probably have given us a chance to do better but in the early part of the race I still managed to do some good laptimes. There will be more favourable weekends ahead and that’s where the championship will be decided.”

Alex Rins – P7

“Overall, I’m quite happy because despite starting from 12th position I did have some good pace. It was always going to be really tough to beat the Ducati riders here, so I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy job today. After I passed Martin for seventh place I ran wide and went off the track, then I had to spend some laps coming back to overtake him again. It was a very physical race, and I even felt a bit of arm pump when I was pushing to make positions. So, it wasn’t really the finish I wanted, but I know I gave my all.”

Brad Binder – P8

“I gave my best from beginning to end and it was a dramatic first few laps. On the second or the third one I was stuck behind someone else who crashed and I was so lucky I didn’t go down. I was able to carry on and push as hard as I could. We did our best and 8th was all we could do today. I want to say thank you to the guys again because the best version of the bike was again available to me in the race. We tried a lot of different things and we got some great information. Hopefully that will also lead to some positive steps this week as well.”

Jorge Martín – P9

“Not the result I was hoping for, I didn’t have the pace to aim for more important positions. On Tuesday we will get back to work to see where we can improve and arrive with an extra push at Aragon.”

Álex Márquez – P10

“That was our maximum pace today, I gave 100% and we were really consistent, it was a good weekend overall in our situation. The team gave 100% in every session and we felt good which, in our situation, is not always easy. I was trying to push and enjoy myself on the bike and a top-10 today was the maximum as I gave everything I had in the race and I was trying to survive and handle the tyres. I’m quite happy, we’re still a long way from the top, but we need to keep going and this result will help us to stay motivated.”

Miguel Oliveira – P11

“A long race and very tough one. I had issues at the beginning getting the left side of the tire working; some worrying moments. Sector 3 was a problem-spot all weekend for me and I was pushing the limits. The Long Lap penalty was not ideal but, overall, not a bad Grand Prix.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P12

“At the end, it has been a good race. There was a big disaster in front of me at the beginning but I did a good start, I was able to get some positions because a lot of riders crashed. But at the beginning of the race I was always trying but I couldn’t be fast. However, from the middle of the race until the end, I was able to be very consistent. I was very focused on that because I could keep the 12th position. At the end, I’m happy with that, I’m happy to finish here with the fans and all the people. Thank you very much to everyone.”

Raul Fernandez – P13

“It was the race that I expected and we did a good job with race pace. All the weekend we worked with the medium tire really well, and I felt quite good today. Honestly, it was hard work because when I followed another bike it was quite difficult to manage the temperature but, anyway, I’m really happy. I think we made a step and I think now we can continue on this line, and try to end the remaining races in the top fifteen.”

Stefan Bradl – P14

“It’s nice to return to the points, a little reward after all the work that we have done over the past races. It was a really physical race and I suffered a lot in the last few laps. There are still some areas we need to work on with the bike and the test will be important for this. Corner speed is the key thing we need to work on I think but I was able to stay with the other riders. Now we get ready for the test which is looking quite busy for us, a good rest tonight and prepare to go again.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P15

“I had a good start, but into turn one, just in front of me, there was a big crash (Pirro and Zarco). I was lucky to avoid it, but lost some positions. Also, at the start of the race it was difficult to find confidence on the bike, I was struggling a lot and the feeling was really bad. In the second part of the race, I was able to push and had some grip and our lap times weren’t too bad, but it was too late then. This weekend was really tough, but we’ll stay positive and Tuesday and Wednesday we have an important test here. We’ll keep working, I’ll get some rest and will be ready for the test.”

Darryn Binder – P16

“After warm up this morning, I was confident that I will have a good race today. After the start, I managed to stay out of trouble, there was a lot going on at the first couple of laps. I really had a good pace, I felt really strong at the beginning of the race running inside the points, but unfortunately at the last 10 laps, I really started to struggle with the rear tyre and I wasn’t able to maintain my position. It’s sad to end the race that way but in the end I will take the positive and will work on these areas I struggled today in the test on Tuesday and Wednesday and find the settings that can help me a little bit towards the end of the race and move on to Aragon.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P17

“Too bad, because this morning we had made a good step forward compared to yesterday on the pace and I was even faster. I made a mistake, while braking I tried not to stay in the slipstream of Maverick (Viñales) so as not to be sucked into his wake, but at that point I was unable to avoid him, I was much faster, I went wide and I lost the front. I’m really sorry, it was my home race, the podium would have been difficult, but I could have fought for the Top5/6 and be with Luca who was really strong today. Let’s turn the page, let’s focus on the testing session: the focus will be riding style and new setups.”

Jack Miller – P18

“It’s the same old story for me here in Misano, unfortunately. Five times here I’ve qualified on the front row, and I’ve still never managed to get on the podium. If I was ever going to change things around I thought it’d be this year, but not even two laps into it I was on the floor from the lead, and it was basically game over. Misano is a track I’ve always liked coming to, I’m always fast here, but I just haven’t had a whole lot of luck. So, not the day we anticipated, but that was the way the cookie crumbled unfortunately.

“I pushed from the beginning and tried to get away from those guys behind me to break the group up a little bit, and I did one good lap… I was a little wide coming out of Turn 3 on the second lap, a little bit wide into Turn 4 and came in wide off the kerb, and down she went. And that was it. I continued but had no rear brake, so trying to ride one of these monsters with no rear brake and no wings on one side was a little bit of a handful, let’s say. I didn’t give up and kept pushing, but it’s pretty disappointing. You’re riding around just kicking yourself, and you’re going to need other people to make mistakes even to get a point. In the end, it was 18th and that was that.

“It had all gone so well until Sunday. I was in the top three in every session until qualifying, and I finally went one better and got pole here after qualifying second four times before. ”

“Qualifying was one of those sessions where you’re living off your wits, so it was super satisfying to take pole because I’d gone a long while between drinks – four years! We all went out on the wets because the pit lane was soaked, but we all realised pretty quickly that it was slick tyre territory and that threw things up in the air. It’s no secret that I tend to go alright in those sorts of conditions and we were fast in the dry anyway, so I was confident I could get it right. You never know how long that little window in the weather is going to last to get that one lap on a slightly damp track in on a slick tyre, so the heart rate went up a bit!

“I tried to ride it like it was a dry track, just maybe one that’s a little greasy, but just go for it. When you get comfortable on your bike, you can understand what the grip’s doing, you can just feel it. I ran wide on my final lap so I rode around trying to stay out of everyone’s way so I didn’t get a penalty while watching the big screens around the track to see if anyone bumped me off pole, but it held strong for me and I was able to get back to pole after four years. I’d been close many a time, so it was nice to finally nail one. So Saturday was good, at least. Not much to say about Sunday, though.

“We’re here in Misano for a couple more days yet – we have a two-day test on Tuesday and Wednesday before we all head home, and then it’s off to Aragon next. We’ll take the positives from here, keep working, and come back stronger next time.”

Remy Gardner – P19

“It was a tough weekend and race. I had a rather good start and found myself within the Top 15 from P24, with a good race pace. I then had a Long Lap penalty so I lost the rhythm and positions to finish in P19. We have a test here now and I am hoping that we will be able to improve a few things so we can try to finish the season well.”

Fabio DiGiannantonio – P20

“It’s a shame that the race was kind of ruined straight away. I pushed too hard at turn four to overtake and crashed… I did my best to make it to the finish line and honour these colours and this track. Obviously, we were aiming at a different type of result, we had a great pace and we could have been in the top ten. Now we’ll try to make the most of the day of testing in order to get to Aragon with the best possible feeling.”

Kazuki Watanabe – P21

“I’m quite happy to finish the race, and now I can officially say I’m a MotoGP rider! I’ve said it many times already; but I’m so happy to be here and the experience has been amazing. Finishing the race gave me extra confidence with riding and the whole weekend has been a dream come true. Despite being an endurance rider, I found the full race distance very tiring with some arm pump from all the hard braking. Then, in the last phase of the race I managed to do my fastest lap of the whole weekend, so that was good.”

Michele Pirro – DNF

“It’s a shame. I crashed at the first corner after a contact with Zarco. I’m sorry because I had made a good start and I could have never imagined ending a 27-lap race after a few meters. But these are the races and the important thing is that Pecco won reopening the race for the World Championship for good. I really wanted to finish differently also because I was convinced I could take some points. I thank Stefano Cecconi, Serafino Foti, and the whole Aruba.it Racing team for the support with the belief that I can do better in 2023.”

Pol Espargaro – DNF 

“I couldn’t tell exactly what happened at the start but it looks like Brad Binder was aggressive into the first corner and then made contact with Zarco, who made contact with Pirro, who made contact with me. This can happen on the first lap and I don’t think it was anything strange. Unfortunately, this is a consequence of starting this far back on the grid. We need to keep on working to improve our Saturday performance. The wrist should be OK to test and I really want to work on Tuesday and Wednesday because I want to get some things clear in my head without having to worry about the lap times.”

Franco Morbidelli – DNF

“Unfortunately, Di Giannantonio crashed right in front of me, and I couldn’t avoid him. It’s a pity because I think I could have done a decent race. We are getting better, and I think I could have had fun, but unfortunately this incident happened.”

Johann Zarco – DNF

“I am sorry because my race hardly even started, I was touched and  i crashed, I’m sorry because unfortunately afterwards I also crashed Pirro and Espargarò. It’s better to turn the page and start from scratch on Tuesday for testing.”

Team Managers

Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager

“Once again, Pecco was the author of a beautiful race: he was able to hold his rivals off and not make any mistakes, taking his fourth consecutive victory with Ducati in MotoGP, a result that no other rider had been able to achieve so far. Enea was also excellent, finishing very close to Pecco, and once again, it is nice to see our bikes first and second on the podium. I am very sorry for Jack, who could have done just as well today, but I am sure he will be able to make up for it in the next races, given the excellent form he is currently in. I want to thank all the Ducati Corse guys and girls who made this result possible, especially the Ducatisti who came out to cheer us on at Misano.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“Today we got disappointing results. From yesterday‘s qualifying session, we knew this was going to be a tough race, starting from the third and fourth row, but we expected to have a better package. Still, Fabio put in all he had to maximise the result. This fifth place and these 11 points are important for the championship, but we definitely wanted more at a track like this. 

“Franco‘s race was unfortunately very short. He got caught up in the busy mid-pack and a crash from another rider ended his race early. It‘s a real shame, especially because he was having a positive weekend leading up to the race. His pace and feeling improved a lot compared to the previous GP. We take this as a big positive, and hope to continue the progress in Aragón, although that‘s a very different type of circuit. But first there will be an important two days here on Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for 2023.”

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager

“We were going a bit better than last year – seven seconds quicker over full race distance – even though we are not completely happy with the positions. We have to take the positives; the race overall was five seconds faster than 2021. We have made a little step but it is not quite enough. We’re going in the right direction and we want to recover more ground. Improvement is coming and this is important. We will have two days testing now, with the test team also with some new material, and in testing conditions instead of race conditions. We hope to go to Aragon and achieve something better than Misano.”

Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 KTM Team Manager

“In the Warm Up this morning, both Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner were in good shape. They both did not have an easy start but they managed to avoid problems and started gaining positions. In addition, they both had interesting lap times and they were close to the top riders.

“Raul had a strong rhythm all race long, between 1’33.1 and 1’33.3, behind Andrea Dovizioso, a big reference here at the Misano World Circuit, so this is very positive. Finishing thirteenth is a really good result for us and it rewards well the weekend we had. I would like to thank Raul for his great attitude all weekend. Except for the QP1 which was a miss, I would say that this is the best weekend so far we’ve had with him. 

“Remy Gardner was strong too and close to his team-mate. Unfortunately, he suffered from arm pump problems within the last part of the race and struggled to handle his bike. He got a long lap penalty and lost positions, which is a great shame because getting in the points was possible for him. Thanks to both riders, we learned a lot as a team this weekend, and it will be interesting to see what they can do at the next race in Aragon.”

Livio Suppo – Suzuki Team Manager

“Alex didn’t have a very easy race, but at least he was able to get some points in the bag. So, while it’s not the position we were looking for, we’ll take it. Kazuki did a great job in his debut race, he was very close to finishing the race without being lapped, but when he knew that the leaders were catching him, he went wide to avoid getting in their way. It’s been a pleasure to have Kazuki with us, but we hope to see Joan back in Aragón, where we’ll try for better results with him and Alex.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“We’re not particularly satisfied with these results, but Alex tried the best he could. He struggled a bit on the overtaking and the gaps were opening up in the field. He set some fastest laps, and he was looking strong, but he was too far from the front and had to settle for seventh. Thank you to Watanabe-san for the very good job he did this weekend, he hadn’t ridden a MotoGP race before and it was a difficult situation and he managed to finish the race, I feel he did the best he could. Let’s look ahead to the next race in Aragón.”

Pablo Nieto – Mooney VR46 Racing Team Manager

“I am very happy for Luca and the whole Team for this result at the home GP: they had a great race fighting with the very first guys. We are happy, but maybe we deserved a little more in the end. Luca proved to be very fast, constantly growing and can give us and give himself great satisfaction in these last races. A real shame for Marco’s crash during the first laps, he had the pace. I’m sure he can redeem himself in Aragon. A busy week for all the guys, many events, but closed with a good placement right in front of our partners, first of all Mooney, who kept us company in this very special weekend for our Team.”

Razlan Razali – Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Principal

“Well the curtain has drawn for Andrea’s last dance, his retirement race in Misano with a good 12th position with four points. It was an emotional weekend leading up to the race, a fantastic celebration for everybody who knows Andrea, his former team mates, colleagues and other teams wishing him well for his retirement. So, it was a good race for Andrea and to get some points for the team.

“On the other side of the garage, while in some parts of the race Darryn was behind Andrea in 13th position, but his rear tyre problem caused him to fall back and he just got out of the points with 16th position.

“So now, life after Andrea, we will have Cal Crutchlow joining us from Aragon onwards that also saw the retirement of Andrea’s Crew Chief Ramon Forcada, another individual with tremendous experience in MotoGP, and we wish him all the best for his retirement as well. He will be replaced by Cal’s Crew Chief Silvano Galbusera in the test team for the balance of the six races. So, post Misano with the test on Tuesday and Wednesday, we will see Darryn get to know more of the M1 better and try to get a lot of laps while Andrea will do his helmet test for a half day on Tuesday.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Manager

“Andrea finished his last MotoGP round and did a fantastic race, he was very consistent and finishing in the 33s in Misano is very difficult because there are lot of bits here that are easy to crash but he kept those young boys behind him and gets a lot of points. It’s good to see that and of course, we can be proud to be with him and stay behind him until the end, I think that it was he appreciated. We hope he has a fantastic retirement and we wish him all the best.

“Darryn also did a very good race. He stayed behind Andrea all the time and he was actually a little bit faster and tried to get some points. With five to six laps to go, the rear tyre broke majorly and he actually could not control the bike as he wanted anymore but he wanted to finish the race and stay on the bike. Unluckily finishing 16th and lost a lot of time but I think he learned a lot and this is very important for the upcoming races.”

2022 Misano MotoGP Race Results

MotoGP Championship Points Standings

2022 MotoGP Calendar