MotoGP riders & Team Managers reflect on Phillip Island

MotoGP 2022 – Round 18 – Phillip Island

Alex Rins – P1

“I am so happy to get the victory here, now I have Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP victories here, and we deserve this one. We work quite hard to get it. 

“During the race was not that easy, sincerely the pace was not so high, so managing the rear tyre, finding traction, and lap by lap I was overtaking someone until I arrive in the top four. At that point I realised they were riding so slow, so I went to the front to see if I was able to open up a bit of a gap, but then Pecco just overtake me on the straight, so then I decide to stay behind him, to save a little bit of the rear tyre.

“Going into the last lap on the straight I knew if I could stay quite close to him, I thought I could get him early in the lap, so we did it, and I am super happy because all the Hamamatsu staff deserve this, they work really hard, and this is the last one for Suzuki at the island so I am happy that it has my name.”

Marc Marquez – P2

“We chose the correct tyre with the soft rear tyre, I felt good and I was managing the race a lot in the beginning, then later on I was struggling a bit with grip but I enjoyed it a lot, that race. It doesn’t matter what position, I finished second and I tried to win. I gave everything, but Alex did a really good last lap. I gave everything I had, I enjoyed it a lot, so many overtakes. In some areas we still need to improve but Honda is working, and step by step we’re getting better and better.

“For me, the second place was so important, when I came back after the injury, the test in Misano, then the race in Japan, the race in Thailand. Why? Because it was important to understand that, inside me, the speed is there, and when I feel okay, the speed is there. But it’s true that now we need to work hard and the body needs to follow that speed, so step-by-step, it’s getting better and better.

“Here is a left circuit, so it helps a lot, and it’s true that it’s only two right corners where you push really hard – that is 4 and 10 – and in Malaysia, we will struggle more, I know. But, we will have time in winter so, step-by-step, we are getting better and it was the best way to keep the motivation for me, for the team, for Honda, because Honda is also in a difficult situation. They are working hard, as we see this weekend, and it’s getting better and better.”

“First of all, I’m really happy with this (100th) podium. It means a lot to me, it means a lot to the people who have helped me in this tough season, and to all the doctors, to all the physios that I work with. We are getting better and better, and Honda is working hard. Nothing has been gained now, but they are working really hard for 2023. This podium means a lot, to keep the motivation, to show to them that this rider that can win six titles with Honda is there.”

Pecco Bagnaia – P3

“I had some difficulties to engage the front device, but in any case, the start wasn’t so good. Then I tried in the first laps to overtake many riders, and then when i saw on the pit board that Fabio was out, a win is ok but if they overtake me on the final lap, it’s ok. I’m very happy and we’re now leading the Championship… so keep going like this!

“I said, there are 250 points remaining after the Sachsenring. I think we took a lot of that. Our bike is the same from Jerez and from that moment, we demonstrated that we were so competitive. So, keep going, keep going. I don’t want to think about the Championship now. Just focus on the main goal, which is doing good races, and then we’ll see. But, I don’t want to think about it.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P4

“I am very happy with the race and the title of Rookie of the Year. We have done a lot of good things since the beginning of the year, we have grown a lot and it’s not over yet. What a GP: fantastic, stunning, I was fast and I fought for the victory until the finishing line even though I have struggled in the last laps. Pecco (Bagnaia) was solid in braking, Marc (Marquez) and Alex (Rins) had something more, but I gave it all and I can’t complain. What a battle, I am very happy for the Team, we are a special group, my family, the Academy and Vale, for sure, who has always believed in me.”

Enea Bastianini – P5

“I’m only half happy because we had without a doubt a great race, but a better starting position would have helped and not just a little bit. Even two positions would have changed the race. In any case, we’re happy: we had a great pace and recovered many positions and why not, even some points in the standings. We’re still in the title race and it’s never over until it’s over. We’re now heading to Malaysia, and we’re fully focused on doing well, and to do so on Saturday too.”

Luca Marini – P6

“A different race from all those faced up this year, but beautiful! I would say perfect tire management throughout the long run and amazing overtakings. I really enjoyed it. In the end I lost something, I’m sorry, maybe I could have done better, but in the contacts at the start I lost a lot of time and then I had to recover. We have to be happy: we have always been in the group in front, we have calculated the consumption of the tires in the best possible way and continue on this positive trend. We are establishing ourselves as one of the best Teams and among the best riders in the world: I’m really satisfied.”

Jorge Martín – P7

“I had a good pace but I was struggling to overtake and that limited me a lot. I got a good start and I was able to manage the tires very well, we lacked a little bit of mileage but the feeling was good. Too bad because it was a good opportunity but we will try again next week in Malaysia.”

Johann Zarco – P8

“I had problems at the start and so I lost the chance to stay with the leading group at the beginning. I found myself in 19th position and from there it was not easy to fight for the podium. I still had a good race, made many overtakes and recovered positions but I still lack a little bit of feeling to be able to do better.”

Aleix Espargaro – P9

“In the early part of the race today, everything was going according to plan. I started well overtaking Fabio and managed to stay easily with the leading group. Even when I made a small mistake, I was able to quickly close the gap, even doing the second fastest lap of the race. Then the situation took a strange turn. The electronics began to cut a lot of power and, despite pushing hard to make up ground on the braking sections, I didn’t have the acceleration to stay with the others. It’s a pity. These are mistakes that we can’t make if we want to battle for the championship title, especially because we demonstrated that we have the speed to do so.”

Brad Binder – P10

“It was an extremely challenging weekend and in the end we were the strongest when it came to the race so hats-off to the team again. They did a fantastic job and helped us salvage some points today. I had a great start but going into Turn 4 a few guys hit each other, they sat up and then someone hit me and I had to go straight on. I went from the top ten to outside the top sixteen. I had to claw my way forward and got up to the lead group but I knew that I was being hard on my rear tire. It was a race where you had to save rubber but I didn’t really have a choice after that first lap. I had to push and get as high as I could. Not happy at all to finish in 10th but we fought the best we could and we will take information and data from here to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Pol Espargaro – P11

“Our race today was quite similar to the last races; we were playing catch up a lot during the race. We were probably a bit closer to the front this race than in the previous ones, but the pace of the race overall was slower than we thought it would be. Again, starting so far back on the grid makes it really hard and especially at a circuit like Phillip Island – there’s a lot of turbulence and the opening laps you have to be really precise. We started the weekend well here, so we can see that there is some potential there but missing out on Q2 really hurt us. Two races left in the season; we keep on going.”

 Miguel Oliveira – P12

“I’m pleased to finish with points after starting last and making the Long Lap but, in seeing our pace, it is a bit disappointing to have been in that situation. I made the most of where I was and now I’m looking forward to Malaysia because I think we can be very competitive there.”

Cal Crutchlow – P13

“Honestly speaking, I’m a bit disappointed with the result but I caused it myself, I did a mistake during the start and fell back almost to last, so I had to come back through. My problem was in the first lap, I had no heat in the brake, I got a good start, went into turn one and ran wide and the bike started to shook and I went backward. I was pleased with my pace in the race, I just picked my way through and passed by some guys.

“If I would have went with Johann (Zarco) and rode the way I should have ridden here, I could have stayed there as I had the pace. I felt really good, the best all weekend so it’s a shame for the result, but the last five laps I just had no tyre left. But, I was quite pleased with the bike and felt in control of the bike with the lap time I was doing. Now, we go to Malaysia and try with Fabio to win there, cause now all we can do is try to win.”

Darryn Binder – P14

“I’m really happy with the race today. I’m glad to find my way back into the points again. I had a really good race. I was in amongst good company, behind Cal for a lot of the race. The gap to the first position is the closest it’s ever been with 14 seconds! I feel I did a good job this weekend, improving in every session and putting together a strong race. I’m happy with how things ended, it’s great to get some points again and now I’m looking forward to Malaysia.”

Remy Gardner – P15

“A good start to the race and I stayed close to the front group for thirteen-fourteen laps more or less as I felt strong on the bike. At one point, we were in P10. Then the tires started dropping and we lost a couple of positions but I had a lot of fun riding here today. The fans have been incredible all weekend, and it was good to spend some time with them on the cooling down lap after the race. Thank you to all of them who came supporting us this weekend, they have been amazing.”

Raul Fernandez – P16

“I have enjoyed the last couple of races although this is not the place where both my team and myself want to be. In terms of pace, we have been close to the other KTM riders which is a positive point. This track does not have so many corners to overtake, turns 4 and 10 are the main ones. We had a few fights with Franco Morbidelli but we lost time doing so and my race pace was better after he crashed. I think that we made the right tire decision today although it was tough to manage within the final laps, but I am happy with my race overall today.”

Maverick Vinales – P17

“I don’t understand what happened today, to be honest. We still need to carefully analyse the data, but clearly something didn’t work right. I didn’t even come close to the pace that I had in the FP4 simulations on the same tyres. It’s hard to identify the reason now, so we’ll have to get to work and simply capitalise on this experience to improve.”

Joan Mir – P18

“On our side of the garage it’s been a very disappointing race. There was a problem with the manometer which meant that the tyre pressures were out, and this caused me to drop backwards. I practically couldn’t finish the race, but I just managed to. It’s a sad comeback for me, but I’ll do my best in the last two races and hope for some better luck. On the other hand, I’m so happy for the team and Alex, because a victory here in Phillip Island is something very special.”

Fabio DiGiannantonio – P20

“It’s a real shame, because we had found a good setting with the bike and we were showing it in the first three laps, after also a good start. Unfortunately at turn four, during the fourth lap, Crutchlow hit me and I ended up on the grass. After that, the race was over…”

Jack Miller – DNF

“It is what it is, you can’t do too much about it, it is just racing sometimes.. It can all be looking so well and then it can change just like that…

“Racing incident. I understand he was trying to pass Marini and had some issues or whatever he had, a little ambitious and just smashed me in the middle. Nothing I could do about it.

“I felt good, had a great start. I was trying to get in front of Pecco, I felt like third was a solid spot to kind of calm things down, and chip away at this race, because we were still in pretty early stages of it.

“I had just swapped the maps, because I understood Pecco didn’t really want me in front, so I was like okay can sit behind you for a bit, because it was still pretty early stages of it, and yeah well that happened.. So there is not much more to say really.

“Tough pill to swallow, but that was the card we were dealt today so just got to keep chipping away. The team did a fantastic job all weekend.. I didn’t feel very competitive on Friday arvo, and we were able to turn the bike around to where I felt really competitive today, so a massive thank you to them.

“I am happy for the team, you know Pecco is now leading the championship, but gutted for myself. That was a day we could have scored some decent points.

“I definitely feel the impact for sure. The family jewel area not feeling the greatest and the back is a bit stuff but I will be right come Malaysia.”

Alex Marquez – DNF

“I did a mistake. When you make a mistake you need to accept it and you need to learn about it. I just tried to overtake the guy that was in front of me, and just locked the rear and my bike carried a lot of speed there and I made contact with Jack. I am really sorry about that, for him, I know this was his home GP and I was really sad for that and his team.”

Franco Morbidelli – DNF

“Unfortunately, I crashed in the race. I was starting from far behind, and I struggled to recover some positions. When I was riding alone, I didn’t have the speed. Instead, when I was riding behind other people, I felt good potential. Overall, it’s been a tough weekend, but we did see some good things in some moments, like in FP4, when I was quick. So, we’ll keep working and keep digging to make those moments last longer. I struggled to put it all together here, but we’ll try again in Malaysia.”

Fabio Quartararo – DNF

“I was struggling a lot at Turn 4 and I already made a mistake at the beginning of the race. Then I tried to push, I was quite far and I could overtake three riders but then I pushed too much in Turn 2 and I made a mistake. Let’s see how we can handle the next ones. I think Malaysia is a good track, I like it, so let’s see how we can do it.

“The championship has changed for Pecco since the Sachsenring, so it can change also for us in the last two. I feel that we can have a great last two races. We need to be focused, to work well, and see, but it can be worse for both of us.

“I think there was a tailwind (heading to turn four), so it pushed me quite fast, and I’ve made a mistake. But, in the end, I think it will be important to analyse it well – I think we already know what happened – and then go to Malaysia with full motivation.

“In the recent races, I couldn’t really enjoy it, and I feel like we need to enjoy the last two races. That, for me, will be the most important thing, because I know that when I enjoy it, I feel like we can go fast!”

Team Managers

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“It was a disappointing race for us. Things didn‘t go quite our way already from this morning. Warm Up was wet, while we had planned on using these 20 minutes to make some final dry set-up tweaks. But even without that opportunity, we were feeling positive. We had prepared for the race in the best way we could and thought we could get a good result, but regrettably this was a day to forget. It was unfortunate that Fabio‘s and Franky‘s crashes ended our race early and that it resulted in Fabio losing the championship lead. But the gap is only 14 points and there are two more GPs to go. Anything can happen in MotoGP, so we need to dust ourselves off quickly and get back into the saddle. We need a strong race in Malaysia next weekend to turn the championship back around.”

Livio Suppo – Suzuki Team Manager

“It’s actually a very mixed feeling: I’m super happy for Alex, of course, but super sorry for Joan. Alex rode an unbelievable race, he showed all his talent and all the potential of the bike, I’m really glad to celebrate this victory with the team after such a difficult season. It was a real shame for Joan; due to a tiny technical issue his race was compromised from the beginning. His pace in the practices was also very good, and I’m sure he could’ve been up there too. Anyway, we’ve shown today that we truly don’t give up, and I want to thank everybody for the support.”

Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager

“I’m happy because, at last, we’ve come back to the podium – and not only to the podium but the top step. Alex did an incredible job and this is a nice reward for us, and for everybody who has contributed to our team and factory. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, our project will end this year but we could prove we’re enough competitive and we’ll continue to go ‘full gas’ in the last two races. Joan had some problems today which meant he couldn’t show his potential, but it’s great to have him back with us and we hope next week will be much better for him.”

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager

“A tough race because Brad was hit twice and had to recover positions but he was in the leading group and he kept the pace. He paid for the force he had to make with the tire drop in the last five laps and he couldn’t fight for something better but his race speed was there and he was fighting. Miguel made a fantastic comeback and to be just 13 seconds back from the winner was incredible. We feel like we missed an opportunity here but we go to Sepang really, really confident.”

Pablo Nieto – Mooney VR46 Racing Team Manager

“I am proud: what a race for our riders here at Phillip Island, a really tough track. Both in the leading group to the finishing line, a wonderful riding style and Marco fighting for the podium. A very important result for the whole Team who have been working hard since the start of the season to reach this level. In addition, the title of Rookie of the Year: an added value for Marco and for the whole crew. What a great day, even with another very solid result from Luca, to share with our partners, Mooney first, who support us, Ducati and all those who work on this project on track and at home.”

Razlan Razali – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Manager

“It was a fantastic race by both riders as Cal Crutchlow and Darryn Binder came 13th and 14th respectively, the best two Yamaha in this weekend’s race and bringing home some valuable points to the team. Darryn showed a good start and a strong race until tyres degradation puts him right behind Cal. Meanwhile, Cal also had a very strong pace to be where he is. In general, it was a fantastic race by both riders and the team and to be the best Yamaha at Phillip Island Circuit.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – WithU Yamaha RNF Team Manager

“P13 and P14 in Phillip Island is the best result from the team this season. Of course, it was a crazy race in front but also our boys were fighting hard to be finishing seconds behind the race winner which were very tight and very close. They were fighting together basically until the end. We are very pleased with the results, points for the boys is already a great achievement in the level we are racing at the moment. We’re very happy and on our way to Malaysia.”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin

“We know that the conditions here at Phillip Island can be a bit tricky with the wind and cool conditions, but despite this, all of the tyres worked well, and this was particularly the case with the asymmetric fronts which gave the riders the confidence to push in the corners. This tyre performance was also accessible to all riders, with the top 17 places in the hotly contested FP3 session separated by less than seven-tenths of a second. The cherry on the cake was the new circuit lap record by Ducati rider Jorge Martin, and the fact that Marc Marquez also beat the previous record on his Honda.

“The rain during Sunday morning reduced the circuit grip levels slightly, but rider tyre choice was not affected. The track temperature reached 35°C for the start of the race and meant that the Hard was chosen by most riders, and this was the winning tyre. However, it was good to see Marc Marquez fighting for the victory all the way to the chequered flag with a Soft rear tyre – showing the breadth of performance of our entire Phillip Island allocation.”

2022 Phillip Island MotoGP Race Results

MotoGP Championship Points Standings

2022 MotoGP Calendar