“Everyone will take a step forward”: Drivers turned up for the Austrian GP
The pre-event press conference opens the Bitci Motorcycle Grand Prix of Austria as we return to the Red Bull Ring for the second time
Thursday, August 12, 2021
And … we are back! Support. The Red Bull Ring is also hosting the Bitci Motorcycle Grand Prix of Austria this weekend and the pre-event press conference opened the weekend with a lot to talk about.
The championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), fresh from third place, joined Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing); Second in the overall standings, as well as reigning world champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Sunday starter Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), eight-time world champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and of course the current man: rookie and Styrian GP winner Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing).
Here are some important quotes:
Fabio Quartararo. Photo courtesy of Dorna.
Fabio Quartararo: “Third place would be a good place for us too, but we’ve seen a few things that can help. But I think everyone will take a step, but we looked at a few things about my riding style and the bike, we can improve a little, but certainly not a big step. We know it’s difficult to take a big step after the first few races, but we can improve over a lap. I was great in FP4, but in the race I had a big drop in the back and the people in the front were much faster. That’s the plan to improve consistency. “
About teammates Maverick Viñales:
“I don’t have any real comments. Not really surprised. I think and I think a lot of people know what happened. For me it is not a problem to drive alone. Difficult to say, better to ask Yamaha people than me. That won’t change anything for me on my weekend. “
In the Moto2 rider market:
“Actually, I achieved the best result in Moto2 at the best moment. I won in Catalonia and the race at Assen was more than the win. I was half a second faster than the first, I think it was Pecco, in the race I came from a long way off and made strong overtaking maneuvers. Between Assen and Sachsenring, I knew that I would go to MotoGP. I think it will be interesting to see that I only got my place in MotoGP because of two good races. At the moment a lot of riders will do their best in Moto2 and have that kind of motivation. Let’s see who goes there. “
Johann Zarco. Photo courtesy of Dorna.
Johann Zarco: “Fourth place would be better than sixth to continue the weekend because it’s true that I couldn’t be very quick last weekend. But the race was okay, only on this last lap I had problems with the rear tire and Nakagami and Brad caught up with me, just too fast, I couldn’t keep the gap. I was disappointed right after the race because if the rest of it seems okay, but then you lose two positions on one or the last lap, you get frustrated, but then it wasn’t a bad race and I could see good things. I was happy for my teammate to win the race and it was even more interesting to confirm my feeling on the bike that it is possible to win. I just need to gain a little more confidence in a few areas to make that step onto the podium and, why not the win, so if I could analyze my performance, I enjoyed Jorge’s good result more with the team and did that OK on Sunday evening.
On the note of his teammate’s victory:
“The motivation is the right motivation because it really confirms the potential of the bike, that in my opinion it is one of the best bikes that can always be on the podium or fight for it and even for victory. This confirmation helps Ducati give me an extra boost and since Qatar 2 had Jorge’s potential with pole position, he led most of the race and I followed him. The worst part was the fall at Portimao and after that he got tough races, but it showed that the summer break helped him recover well and then he drove like the Martinator again. That’s the good sign with a little less experience, having the right performance right away really means that we, I say, we as Ducati riders just have to take that step, but it’s easier to say than to do, but it is the right motivation. “
Johanna Mir. Photo courtesy of Dorna.
Joan Mir: “I just think we drove a great race. I don’t think about whether we will win the title in the end or not, but that is the first point to think about. It is clear that Suzuki did a great job this summer to find something more and ultimately it looks like that work helped and we could see better performance. Let’s try to keep improving, that will be the key. Last year we were able to win the title thanks to Constance. At the beginning of the year I said that I wanted to try to win more races in order to be faster. At the moment I’m not looking at the championship, I just give 100% to try to get wins. I’ll try that every weekend and in the end we’ll see, we’ll fight to the end, that’s for sure. But first we have to continue like this.
“It’s so important to qualify well. Starting in the 2nd row is like starting from pole for me. A lot of work that you don’t have to do on the first few laps and tires that you save. Sometimes I think it’s possible to get on the podium from 14th or 11th and maybe one day get the win, but you have to take a lot of risk. It is not possible to start there to fight for the title and to be strong in every race. We need to keep improving in this area. If we improve the pace, we will improve the lap time, that’s for sure. So we’re following the right steps to try and improve. “
Brad Binder. Photo courtesy of Dorna.
Brad Binder: “You know, I don’t have a home Grand Prix for me, so this is about as close as the Red Bull Ring and KTM. Last weekend I had a tough time in most of the sessions and there wasn’t really a session where I was really at the front, but I was always able to keep the same lap time but not go much faster. I mean, I got off to a pretty good start in the race and pushed as hard as possible to the end. In the last couple of laps I could see myself catching up with Taka and Johann and yeah, I managed to get the moves counted on the last lap and came over in fourth place so it was definitely a really good result for me me, especially at the start back in 16. When we compete this weekend after last week’s race, we understand a lot more. I’ve found a couple of key areas where we need to try to safely improve and yes I think we have what it takes to safely fight this podium battle, just need to improve a few small areas and it can really go on for a long time Away, so all in all we’re really looking forward to starting the second GP.
“As we all know, we get a harder front tire, but whether it works for us or not we have to wait and see. It is true that we lack the support in the front and it is very difficult for us to brake because we have a lot of blocking in the front and when we have to jump into the corners we don’t have quite the support so it makes it happen, it really is difficult for us to use the strongest points of our bike, the corner entry. Looking ahead to the weekend, so far it will be interesting to see if we can get the harder tires to work because in the past we have benefited more and more from a harder front tire, but yes, as I said, the big question is whether it works or not, and I really hope it is because we are struggling a lot with the middle option. It’s going to be a good weekend for us to find out what we can do and hopefully try to get everything working. “
Marc Marquez. Photo courtesy of Dorna.
Marc Marquez: “Last weekend I expected better because of my physical condition, but ok, that’s no excuse. We work and improve race by race so this is important. This stretch is one of the most challenging for the right arm. In any case, I felt good over the weekend, I felt good and quickly. In the first race I had the feeling that I had good potential. Feeling quick and easy, I felt like I was able to land in a … not a top position, but the top 5. But in the second race I didn’t feel the bike from the warm-up lap and felt weird. There were a few mistakes in the first few laps, but even then I didn’t have the pace, I was 0.7 seconds slower than FP4. We’ll understand tomorrow when I ride the same bike again. The answer will be there.
“I’m working by my side to get better and come back like before. I don’t drive naturally, that’s a goal. Honda works hard, they worked very hard in the summer. You test a lot of things in my part of the garage, this is also important to feel your factory’s reaction. It is true that testing a lot of things during a race weekend is not the best way to get the best result on Sunday, but now I have nothing to lose and nothing to gain. We’re trying to prepare well for 2022, we’re trying out a lot. Sometimes you get confused on a weekend, but we believe it’s the way to go. It is true that all Honda drivers struggle. I have checked the table and lead the Honda riders with 50 (points). That means Honda riders have problems. We have to understand and keep working on it and believe, because it looks better race after race. “
Jörg Martin: “Well, it’s hard to believe. Fight and train all your life to win this race and then you do it. Yeah it’s hard to believe but yeah I feel great The good thing is we now have another race so we need to focus now so you don’t have too much time to enjoy it and maybe that’s a good point. I don’t want to be that high! Lots of people text me, lots of different people, I’m really happy and really focused on this weekend.
“I don’t know, I have to try. Maybe I can try this weekend. In the past Joan and I have raced together, but he’s just another driver. If you think you have a world champion behind you, or think he is stronger than you, then you will make a lot of mistakes and destroy your race. I hope that in the future I can fight and learn with the other guys like Marc and Johann. “
That’s it from Thursday! Free practice begins on Friday morning before MotoGP ™ sets off for another lap on the Red Bull Ring on Sunday at 2:00 pm (GMT +2).