The weekend at the Sachsenring got off to a good start for Yamaha, who placed Quartararo and Vinales in 2nd and 3rd place respectively behind Oliveira’s KTM. Fabio is happy with his day, but not entirely because he knows there will be many rivals on Sunday.
“As for the tires, I have to say that they are good, I was able to drive interesting laps after more than 20 laps after I put on the ones I used in the morning in FP2, even if I can’t do it.” a real comparison with the other drivers – he explained – But my feelings on the M1 were not so good today, especially at the front, and we have some ideas to try out tomorrow. “
At the moment Oliveira seems to be the rival to look out for the most …
“Miguel has taken a big step forward and so has the KTM – Quartararo confirms – He seems to be very fast at the moment, luckily he didn’t have a good start to the season, but from now on we have to keep an eye on him. “
The same goes for Marquez, who was fastest on the track in the morning, while in the afternoon he finished the session 12th, but without putting on a new tire to find the time.
“Marc is very strong, in 2019 he made my life very difficult to try to get my first win and I will do the same to him – the Frenchman smiled – He has had a very difficult time and we will all be very happy if he gets a good result, or rather, we are happy for him, but not for us! Anyway, I’m here to fight for the podium and for the win, I’m not thinking about him.
From a championship point of view, he will certainly think of the Ducatis, who, as expected, have some difficulties at the Sachsenring.
“They said the same thing about me in Mugello and Barcelona, that I fought, but apart from the problems I was fine – he pointed out – I think they will fight for the podium on Sunday. It’s true that this track is better for Yamaha, but I think it’s more a question of the rider than the bike, it’s the rider who can make the difference. Bagnaia struggled a lot today, but I have to concentrate on myself, not on the others, because as I said, I didn’t feel so comfortable on my bike.
One final comment related to the changes Alpinestars made to its leathers to prevent other accidental openings.
“I have a double Velcro fastener for double security – explained Fabio – Anyway, we all know that I had properly closed my racing suit before the race in Barcelona, but what happened, happened. But now I have this update and I will try something new for my leather again tomorrow.