MotoGP: Riders speak ahead of Motul Grand Prix Motegi – Road Racing World Magazine

The final leg of an amazing triple header in MotoGP™ arrives as we land in beautiful Motegi for the Japanese MotoGP Grand Prix! After exploring Tokyo’s world-famous Asakusa district and Senso-ji Temple on Wednesday afternoon, there was plenty to take in during the media day.

Press Conference 1 saw championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) sit alongside arch-rival Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) before being joined by Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GAASGAS Tech3) and Fabio Quattararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) by home hero Takaki Nakagami. (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) for press conference 2.

George Martin (Prima Pramac Racing)
After Mandalika, do you feel it’s a two-horse race for the world championship?
“Mandalika had a tough weekend after I crashed on Saturday and had Enya and Mark out of the race on Sunday. It’s been a long time since I thought it would be just Peco and myself for the title, and there are still five races. I think there’s still a chance for them, if anyone can do it, it’s them, but I feel like it’s very difficult at the moment, so I feel like it’s Pecco and myself. For me, I’m excited to fight with champions like Peco and Marc and amazing riders like Aeneas and let’s see what happens. I think they have a chance, but it’s difficult.

Do you feel like it’s your time and ready this year?
“I will give 100% as always, I think I am a different rider compared to last season, I felt much stronger and maybe faster than last season, but maybe more complete, let’s say. Like I said, it’s great to be here again with Peko, and I always remember the last episode of last season when we always did the same press conference together. It’s good for both of us to be here, because we are the best of all the riders and let’s see what we can do.

Do you see this track as an opportunity to build on your 21 point lead?
“For sure, last weekend was incredible, even though I lost some points in the championship, I felt good after winning again. Le Mans was tough, it’s a rollercoaster, I was very close to winning some Sundays, but I made some mistakes. It was really emotional and good to win now.” But we are starting from zero. I don’t care about last season, it was a different situation, I was trying to attack from the back, and I won the Sprint and the Sunday race, but this time I think it will be different and difficult. I see that the weather forecast is unpredictable, so difficult And it’s going to be a challenge, so I’m going to give it my best, but we’ll see.”

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
Do you see it as a direct title fight between you and George?
“More or less since the beginning of the season, we’ve been showing that we’re different from the rest. It’s true that mathematically you can be champions for Enya and Mark. This season, myself and George know better than anyone how easy it is to make mistakes and stumble, so we have to take them into account. It’s something that can change quickly, and mathematically. I count it as long as it’s not possible, but it’s true that half of the season we always lead the race and the sessions and I think it will be like that until Valencia.

Do you think it will be difficult to beat Martin this year?
“It looks exactly the same, but in reverse. I think it’s good to fight again with George, it’s always a fair fight, a fair fight and fair respect between us. I think it will be the same this season, it’s good to fight again, and between us before the end of the season. It would be nice to have a fight, but not a rematch from last season. It was a tough season for both of us, but it’s true that we lacked something in the last races compared to myself We have to work on it a little bit, but I’m very happy to be here and fight to the end with George, who I think is extremely strong.

Is Motegi a good chance to take some extra points into the weekend?
“Considering the track and taking into account George’s performance in Mandalika last weekend, we have to look positively, getting three points on a track that suits George. Motegi is my favorite track and it suits the rider’s style better than Mandalika, we have more braking and speed, and I feel the same as in Austria. The weather may be different compared to the current weather, which looks like rain. I think we should be ready for any situation, and our performance can get us a point against George.

Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GAASGAS Tech3)
Amazing results last weekend and on paper a lot of people think this track will suit the RC16, so how hopeful are you of joining the podium?
Let’s see, it’s true that this track normally suits our bike very well and last season Brad and Jack were very competitive outside of the tough races and last year Brad was on the podium. Hopefully we’ve made improvements, the way we’re using it, to be closer to Mandalika.

Do you feel close enough to win one of the last five GPs?
“It’s true that we’ve improved in the last four/five races. It’s true that in Mandalika it was important to finish at Misano in both races. We were competitive but then I broke down in both. For this reason, it was important to get more information on the distance between races, hopefully, we will continue to get closer in this way.

How big is it to have Aki Ajo in your corner in the future?
“I’m really happy about that; he’s definitely a special character and a character that’s helped me a lot in the past. I like how straightforward he is, and I was talking to him this afternoon, and I think we’re going to be a good match together.”

FABIO QUARTARARO (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™)
Do you think you can break into the top six this weekend?
“Well, Misano I was in the top five but let’s see this weekend, especially here there are a lot of acceleration points, we know we’re missing some power so it’s going to be crucial. But we’ll see if we can get into Q2 tomorrow.

What are your pack strengths that can help you this weekend?
“We’ve improved braking and cornering when braking, not when accelerating. I think that much braking could completely change the weekend as I said we could be in the top 10 on Friday. I hope and expect to be there on Friday. “

Are you expecting more updates between now and the end of the season and are you up to date on the V4 engine?
“At the moment, I’m not really focused on this engine and we have to do everything we can to feel the improvement. Yamaha has brought four different chassis in the last five races and it’s a big thing that we haven’t seen before. Hopefully this weekend the new chassis will help the rear grip.

Takaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR)
I guess the weekend will be emotional for you, how do you feel saying goodbye to the Japanese people this weekend?
“Of course there will be sad feelings, it will be my last GP as a full-time rider. Right now, I feel like nothing will change, and I feel the same as before. Of course, it’s special because my house is GP, but nothing more. It changes from day to day, but right now it doesn’t matter, there’s no different feeling.”

Tell us about the new helmet for this weekend…
“This time I wanted to completely change the idea, it’s more of an autumn style, and there’s also a Motegi layout on the side, and I mentioned that it’s a Japanese GP limited edition. I like it because the idea and the color are different.

What is the right target for you this weekend?
“For my part, I switched to the new aero package last weekend starting Saturday morning during the race weekend. So on Friday I used the previous one, which is good because we can understand it better. Then on Saturday and Sunday we decided to use the new aero package, backwards, and we can clearly see the difference, which is helping the bike during the turns, but the bike is a bit unstable. I was able to feel positive, but the main issue is the lack of rear grip and then a little too much wheel at the exit of the corner. It’s a typical stop-and-go track here in Motegi, so I’m a little worried about the corner exits, but we already have plans to reduce the wheelie and improve the balance of the bike, and hopefully, we can get a good feeling as soon as possible.”