Riders reflect on Jerez MotoGP – Jack Miller extended cut

MotoGP 2023

Round Four – Jerez

Sunday MotoGP Race

Pecco Bagnaia – P1

“Considering how the weekend had started, this may be my best win in MotoGP. The tussle was really incredible, and I had a lot of fun. We learned a lot from this GP, and it can help us grow as a team. Friday was a difficult day, but my team did an incredible job of allowing me to regain a good feeling with the bike. They understood my requests well, and today, thanks to the latest changes on the Desmosedici GP, we were able to win. Doing it here was really special, given the great warmth of the fans, so I’m thrilled.”

Brad Binder – P2

“Today was fantastic. So happy to get a solid podium and to be out front leading the race. I kept seeing that I had a little gap, so I thought I had done the job and had to look after my rear tyre…but I think I cooked it a bit with three-four laps to go. It is what it is, but I managed my best lap of the race right at the end trying to get Pecco: hats off to him. Thanks to my team and to everyone for their support. We’ll try again next week.”

Jack Miller – P3

“I’ve got to say, this one feels good – really good. It’s so nice to be back up here on the podium here at Jerez – it feels like a minute, but it hasn’t been that long – but to be here in these KTM colours feels even better.

“The thing is, I’m not that surprised in some ways. The bike has been phenomenal all year, every weekend I’ve felt like we’ve only been missing a little bit here or there, so it was nice this weekend to have everything polished and do it right. We’re taking it to the big boys now, and it feels really great. It’s the fourth Grand Prix, and we have a good package. Now, it’s just time … we’re slowly but surely arriving at the front, and I’m sure we’ll come to some tracks that are even better for us.

“I had to work for that one today, that’s for certain. (KTM teammate) Brad (Binder) rode awesome, (Ducati’s) Pecco (Bagnaia) did too, and it was some really fun, clean racing at the front there. I’m just happy to be part of that. And to be up on the podium for KTM for the first time, it’s just an awesome feeling. We’re here already, and hopefully we can stay here!

“Brad was phenomenal – I’m gutted for him actually, because to lead that many laps and not come away with the big one, it’s tough. But he didn’t really put a foot wrong all race. Pecco, though … he rode a really smart race and showed us who the champ is.

“After the way Austin ended up, I studied the data a little bit before Jerez to try to understand what I did wrong, why I’d crashed in the race. We always hear riders saying ‘oh, I didn’t do anything differently’, but clearly I did something because I crashed. I managed to stay on the bike the laps before … so I just tried to erase that memory coming here. Learn from it, sure, but erase it. I had six crashes over the weekend … most of them were sort of nothing crashes, two were on out-laps. But they were all my fault. So it was a strange one for that, but back here under normal circumstances with normal asphalt, those sorts of crashes … I was confident it would be a different ball game, and that’s how it turned out.

“Having Dani (Pedrosa) with us in the KTM box this weekend as a wildcard was pretty cool, I’m not going to lie. Everyone acted surprised when he was fastest in Friday first practice, but I mean, c’mon … the guy is a legend – there’s a reason why he’s a legend. He knows how to pedal a motorcycle and he’s done plenty of laps around here – I mean, one of the corners here is named after him! It’s never easy, coming in off the sofa, but at the end of the day he’s Dani Pedrosa and I’m pretty sure he knows how to ride a motorcycle! The old fella has still got it …

“He’s doing a fantastic job for KTM, and the information that he has on this track definitely helped us. We run a little bit of a different set-up, obviously because I’m around 30 kilos heavier than he is, but he’s made a big impact for us and I think we have the best test rider on the grid. For him to be P6 after not racing for a fair bit of time, he did an amazing job.

“It’s been a mega weekend, but we’re not done here yet. I’m especially looking forward to the test here on Monday – I never thought I’d ever say I was looking forward to a test! – but I’m looking forward to testing some parts and getting a little more time on this bike under my belt with it still being pretty early in the season. Now we’ve got some podiums under our belt, the natural reaction is to go chase a few more. And it’s super satisfying to do this so early with KTM.

“I wanted a new challenge. I took a chance on myself … people in business do it all the time, and it’s no different here. Yes, it can come back to bite you on the arse – but we took a risk, and it feels mega when it comes off. I can’t thank KTM enough. And thanks to the people that doubt us – I love it. To be back here on the podium, to have both those bikes on the podium – I didn’t think it would happen this quickly, so I’m stoked.”

Jorge Martin – P4

“Our time will come! Super solid weekend, I really enjoyed the race and an important test day tomorrow to keep improving!”

Aleix Espargaro – P5

“In these cases, it would be easy to say that the bike is not performing well. To the contrary, I love this Aprilia and I think that it is extremely fast, even more so than some of the bikes which, however, are achieving better race results, and our performance on Friday and in qualifying confirms this. The reality of the situation is that we struggle more when we are behind. I don’t know if that is because of the setup or aerodynamic performance, but we need to take a closer look at it. Once again today, after Zarco’s crash, I had open track ahead of me and I was back to being fast but in the race, being able to overtake and be aggressive counts more than pure performance. We need to get the RS-GP to work in these conditions and improve our start because I am convinced that in every other area we lack nothing.”

Luca Marini – P6

“I’m happy with today’s race and P6, I think the best possible result. Yesterday I struggled while today we managed to do a good job. I wasn’t feeling well on the bike after the warm up, we made some changes and I brought home a good race result. It was tough, I wasn’t 100%, but it was easy to make mistakes. I suffered in the long corners: turns 4, 5 and especially 7 and 8. I couldn’t get the bike turn, get it up and then open the gas. I tried to brake as hard as I could and not give up. We remain focused on the testing day, some work on the setting awaits us.”

Dani Pedrosa – P7

“I can keep two things from this weekend. One is the technical side and all the things I can tell the test team and we can keep in mind for the next stage our of work. There is also the amazing results by the guys! The second thing is how the people were with me: it was unbelievable, and I was overwhelmed! I just tried to give my best and I hope the fans liked it. I think we are getting stronger as a project and the bike is improving step-by-step.”

Alex Marquez – P8

“We must be happy: I never felt comfortable on the bike after yesterday’s crash and with today’s heat. Strangely enough we were losing a lot in the fast corners, which is usually my strong point, but the goal for today was to stay upright and earn more points. Between fourth and tenth in the championship we’re all very close and tomorrow’s test will be useful for learning a bit more about the bike and be readier for Le Mans.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P9

“The race was very demanding, and it was important to manage the situation considering the tire consumption, the temperatures, and the rest of the details. Overall I felt quite good, and despite wanting a better result, we’ve scored points and are always improving”.

Fabio Quartararo – P10

“I didn’t try to make an overtake at the race start, I was just trying to survive the corner. But I had Bezzecchi on the right and Miguel on the left. I touched Bezzecchi‘s and Miguel‘s bike, but only because I had no space. It was just a matter of trying to make the corner. From our side, there was no reason to give me the penalty, because I was just trying to do my best. Our race pace was good though.”

Franco Morbidelli – P11

“It was a crazy start. We need to start thinking deeply about this, because there was another red flag and another scary and dangerous moment. But when it all goes fine, it’s an event. So, we need to start searching for a solution. After I got away unscathed through the first two corners, I started to do my race and got caught up in the group. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the race, we really got tangled up in there. But after the long-lap penalty we were able to do some overtakes.”

Fabio DiGiannantonio – P12

“The while weekend was a positive one, we went from running with the third group to being consistently with the second one. We missed something in the end, I was too optimistic at halfway point and wore the tyres a bit too much. In any case we’re learning a lot and we narrowed the gap to the winner by half. Tomorrow’s test will be extremely important as we’ll try plenty of things: setup, ergonomica and try to match today’s times while being more comfortable on the bike.”

Augusto Fernandez – P13

“Much better today. My pace was more competitive and I was in a more competitive group. Even my start was better. We made a big step and the top ten was not so far. The gap is getting smaller and now I am looking forward to the test tomorrow and working more on the GP bike. Just having that extra track time will be a big help because we miss that on the race weekends.”

Stefan Bradl – P14

“We have done a really good weekend I feel, we have learned a lot and gathered a lot of data. Our expectations were realistic, our target as the Test Team was to do our work, go through our plan and we did exactly that. We didn’t make any mistakes; no crashes and we were able to score some points which is a nice reward. The most important thing was being here, racing, looking at the other Honda riders and also the other competitors. I was able to give a lot of feedback to the HRC engineers on where we are stronger and where we need to keep working to make improvements to be closer to the others. Racing together with these guys is where we are able to learn a lot and helps us with working towards the future. A positive weekend, thank you to my team for all their efforts.”

Raul Fernandez – P15

“First of all, I am sorry to the team and Aprilia as I had another issue today. In the race, after four laps I faced the same problem with my right arm. I went to see the doctor today to see what we can do as it is impossible for me to race like this. I can’t say much about the race, I finished the race for the people in my team, for Aprilia and for all the fans but I can’t ride like this as it was super difficult. I will try to find a solution for Le Mans. We did four races and in three of that I had this issue, so we need to see tomorrow with the doctors on what we can do.”

Iker Lecuona – P16

“First of all I just want to say that this weekend was like a dream, to race the Spanish GP as an official factory MotoGP rider – and in the Repsol Honda Team, it’s a moment I have thought about since I was a kid. I need to say a massive thank you to HRC, Repsol and all of the crew here. Everyone worked so well and all of them helped me so much. Every time we got on the bike we went faster and felt better. In the race, for the first ten laps I was able to stay with the group but then I felt the front tyre drop a bit, I didn’t know how to manage it and I lost some time to the other riders. Then towards the end I understood more about the bike and the tyres and I was able to gain on Raul a lot. Maybe with half a lap more I could get him and get a point. I didn’t know there was a point on the table, but anyway it has been a great weekend and I am really happy. Thanks to everyone once again and now I get ready for the next WorldSBK weekend in Barcelona.”

Jonas Folger – P17

We changed our engine mapping for the restart of the race and it helped me with better edge grip but I still ran into the same issue of losing some lap-time speed when the conditions get harder. It is tough for me to adapt and ride around those issues. We’ll use the test to try and understand what I can do and how the team can help me to take more potential out of the bike and the tires. A big thanks to the guys for the work this weekend. I’m happy.”

Marco Bezzecchi – DNF

“I have to say not my weekend! Today at the first start I just felt a big hit, but I didn’t crash. I didn’t quite understand what happened and I didn’t even have time to watch the video images yet. I’m more disappointed than anything else because I didn’t feel bad on the bike, but I wasn’t fast and losing the access into the Q2 yesterday really complicated things. The start in the middle of the group is always difficult because the tire heats up a lot and is then difficult to manage. Today the temperature had risen a lot and then I made the mistake. It’s a shame, but let’s move on to tomorrow’s test and Le Mans race.”

Johann Zarco – DNF

“I was waiting, like in Portugal, for the others to have less grip to be able to make a difference, I was able to hold on, I felt that I could do a little something more. but for that it was necessary that the others had less grip but it was not coming yet, I was able to manage well, I made a good start, it was good to have a second to adjust two, three It was a good fight, the feeling on the bike was even better than yesterday’s race.  “We’re all at the limit, my front tyre suffered a lot with the heat and I didn’t want to let go of the front group, Martin was attacking very hard to compete for the podium and I wanted to stay with them, thinking precisely that over the last 5 laps there would be a difference. But sometimes, small mistake or not, the front part and it’s hard to remember. It’s a shame it was at least 11 points to take in the championship, it’s missed for this one.”

Alex Rins – DNF

“We need to understand what happened during the race. I didn’t feel good with the clutch and I crashed. The important thing is to analyse every detail to improve for the upcoming races. Tomorrow we’ll have a test and try different parts, so let’s be focused: we would like to take a step forward”.

Maverick Vinales – DNF

“The first start was extremely good and the second wasn’t bad, but I found myself battling with Álex Márquez and we lost a lot of time. This also put a lot of wear on the front tyre, so much that I had no more margin to attack in the finale. Just before I stopped I noticed a few problems and I hoped to make it to the chequered flag but I couldn’t. The temptation is to get angry but we need to look at the positive side instead: the bike is fast, I like it, and at the first start I did very well, solving one of our problems. Now we just need to keep working, starting with tomorrow’s test.”

Joan Mir – DNF

“The hot temperatures of the weekend made everything more critical, we are still working to understand the bike and overcome some limits. When I try to push I feel like I arrive at the limit and I lose the front, it’s a combination of the bike and my style. Fortunately we have the test tomorrow to work on it and I think we can improve our base setting a bit tomorrow. Looking at what Honda was trying with Stefan this weekend, I think there are some things which will help us so I am optimistic for tomorrow. We are still in the early stages, just four races with this bike and we need to keep working to improve.”

Team Managers

Luigi Dall’Igna – General Manager of Ducati Corse

“All of Pecco’s victories are beautiful, but this one is perhaps even more so! After the crashes in the last two GPs, we needed a race like this! We had a tough start to the week, but we turned things around together, taking one last step forward today that allowed us to compete in the race. I am very pleased with the work done by the whole team, and congratulations again to Pecco for handling today’s race like a true champion.”

Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager

“What a weekend. We started the Grand Prix in the good way with Dani and then the Quali went perfect, we won the Sprint race and today was amazing. We did something special: both riders fighting for victory, leading most of the way and taking two spots on the podium. Personally, I want to thank every single person involved in this project. We are all super-committed but we are also under pressure because there is such a short time to show our potential each GP. Time goes so fast so I’m glad we are starting to show something important. We had red flags and even rain at one stage so it was an intense weekend here. The technicians, designers, mechanics, riders, the test team; thanks everyone for these incredible results. We are looking forward and we are confident.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director

“We had a nightmare weekend here in Jerez. Like yesterday‘s incident involving Franky, we feel that the long-lap penalty for Fabio for the opening-lap incident in today‘s race is overly harsh. Fabio wasn‘t overtaking recklessly; he was caught between two riders in a tight corner. To make matters worse, Fabio was given another one for crossing the white line coming out of the long-lap penalty loop. After the race we went to Race Direction to express our opinion about their decision, and after watching different views of the accident, they have not been able to convince us. Fabio‘s race was definitely compromised by the Stewards‘ decision, and we are convinced that also the penalty that was given to Franky yesterday was highly questionable. Despite of all that happened today, we were still able to score some points with both Fabio and Franky. The work in Jerez is not finished, because tomorrow we have an important test day. We will evaluate some updated aerodynamic items and a new exhaust.”

Pablo Nieto – VR46 Team Manager

“A complicated race that leaves a bitter taste in our mouths. Luca finished a good race today, also considering that yesterday he was in trouble. Overall a good weekend and a solid result to give continuity to the work he is doing with the Team. A real shame for Marco, he had great potential on the pace, but starting from so far back isn’t easy for anyone. Tomorrow we’ll be back on track here in Jerez for a day of testing, the goal is to come back strong towards Le Mans.”

Nicolas Goyon – GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager

“Another super-strong result for Augusto who managed to finish in the points for the fourth race in a row. He was under twenty seconds from the winner and this is also positive, and comparable with the time set by the Rookie of the Year at Jerez last year. He rides with his head and his talent and this is a nice reward for the team. Jonas struggled a bit in the heat but he finished the race and gathered some valuable experience and that was his target for the weekend. Thanks to the riders and the team: we’re happy, and now we’ll get ready for the test tomorrow.”

Razlan Razali – CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team Principal

“It was another Grand Prix to forget. With the good results during the Sprint Race on Saturday, we were hoping for a similar result with Miguel in the race, but unfortunately he was involved in an incident with both Fabio (Quartararo) and Marco (Bezzecchi) that forces an injury out of him and he did not manage to restart the race. At the moment, the positive news is that there is no major broken bones but a dislocation, we will know more soon. It was an unlucky race incident in our views, we don’t think there is any ill intention with the riders involved, we’re just glad that Miguel is looking not as bad as the incident looked at the moment. We wish him a quick and full recovery in the next ten days before Le Mans.”

“For Raul, we were hoping for his continued progression, but from lap 10 onwards, his race pace was on a decline. We need to now understand the issue and also study his fitness conditions to see what we can do to prepare ourselves for the next race.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team Manager

“We had a big accident again with Miguel, who was taken out by another rider again. Looking to the situation, the start was not fantastic, but that doesn’t say anything. We should have been further to the front, but to be taken out every time is very sad. His shoulder isn’t in fantastic condition. It was dislocated, but is back in. After having a great pace over the whole weekend and a great feeling, for him to only be able to do two corners is of course very disappointing. Anyway, we’re going to the hospital now and will try to find out if he can compete at the next round.”

“Raul also had his problems. Clearly, again the speed was there, but after some laps, he struggled with his arms. It is very important now to investigate that, so we are able to judge how to go forward. He had the speed and the consistency, which is good, but when you have problems with your arms, that doesn’t help.”

MotoGP Race Results

Next stop Le Mans

With the Championship plot ever-changing in MotoGP, there’s no telling what the next chapter holds as the paddock moves to the SHARK Grand Prix de France on the 12th – 14th of May. It’s no ordinary race weekend either: it’s the 1000th Grand Prix in history. Home heroes Quartararo and Zarco may have had different ideas of how they’d want to arrive into the weekend, but anything can happen – we’ve already had 10 riders on the GP podium this season and they’re both among them. It’s a date with destiny and history, and you don’t want to miss it!

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