Quotes of Brno MotoGP 2014
Following a 10-race winning streak, Marc Marquez’s luck changed at the Czech Republic Grand Prix.
It wasn’t a drastic change, though, considering the Repsol Honda RC213V pilot finished fourth, earning valuable points. But this was only the third time that the 21-year-old Spaniard Marquez finished off the podium since joining the premier class in 2013.
The other times were due to a crash at Mugello last season, and a disqualification for screwing up a mandatory pit stop at a repaved Phillip Island – also last season.
Winning Brno MotoGP 2014 was Marquez’s teammate, Dani Pedrosa, helping Honda achieve a flawless record in 11 of 18 rounds so far this season. Joining Pedrosa on the podium was the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP duo of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, respectively.
There was some interesting comments following Brno MotoGP. Following are the top 10:
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V) says: “Today was one of those Sundays in which I neither felt completely comfortable, nor had found the best setup for the bike. It wasn’t down to a mistake by me or by the team, it was simply that we didn’t have the same feeling as on other Sundays.
“In a way it’s taken a weight off my shoulders, as now people won’t be asking me if I can win every race anymore. It was also important that we were able to focus on staying in fourth, even though it was tough not to be fighting for the win; we took 13 points which are important for the World Championship and we have a big advantage. What matters is who wins the title not who wins the most races.”
Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1) says: “Finally we beat Marquez, though sadly it was Dani (Pedrosa) who got the win. I felt good in the Warm Up and at the start of the race. After two laps I lost some feeling and Dani caught me and passed me. I tried to be more aggressive and the bike improved at the end of the race. But by then he was too far ahead, maybe with one more lap I could have fought for the victory.”
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) says: “I didn’t plan the race in the way it went. Jorge was very strong in the first laps so I had to change my plan and push to catch him. I was able to have a good rhythm and manage the gap. We had some problem with grip and corner exit after the first laps. I am very happy to have won this race! This year it has been a tough road to victory, but today everybody in the team is very happy,” said the race winner.
“Seeing their smiling faces makes me happy as well, because you always try to get the best results but don’t always manage to do so. This year we have an amazing rival in Marc, who has had great performances at every round so far. Maybe today wasn’t his best day, but I think that we also worked very well this weekend; bringing home the win for the team feels fantastic.”
Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1) says: “I am very happy for this result because it was a tough weekend. I crashed yesterday and injured the finger. In Warm Up we had some pain and a bad setting. We made a good setting for the finger for the race though!”
“I was able to have a good race and had a high pace. Sadly I lost a little in the first laps, as I wasn’t sure on the pace. It was a great pleasure to beat Marc for once! He had some problems, sliding a lot. I’m very proud to be on the podium.”
Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing Ducati GP13) says: “I’m really happy with today’s result. I managed to do a lap in the lead! I knew that Jorge, Dani, Vale and Marc were faster than me, but I pushed thinking about my race. I enjoyed the first part of the race, I tried to follow Dani when he overtook me, in the Warm Up session I was able to keep up with him, but in the race he was three tenths of a second faster than me and I decided to not push so much because it didn’t make much sense.”
“In the second part Dovizioso and I passed each other several times, he was able to brake harder than me. I had fun and I’m happy for me, my team and Ducati. I am beginning to see a bit of light for the future!”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team GP13) says: “We have to be satisfied with the race today because we again reduced our gap from the guys at the front. Both Iannone and myself could maybe have lapped even quicker, but we never pushed 100% for the whole race because we were too far from the leading group and there was no one behind who could threaten our position,” said the Italian.
“Unfortunately I was not able to fight with Iannone in the last few laps because my engine had a bit of a drop in performance during the race and as a result I was unable to stay in his slipstream.”
Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda RC213V) says: “After the difficult weekends we had recently, we can be quite happy with this result. Anyway it was a hard weekend for us because we lost our way a little bit on Saturday morning and we had to go through Q1 working hard to be back to our standard shape. I did not take a perfect start because we lost some acceleration due to some wheelie.
“I tried to catch the guys in front of me, Dovizioso and Iannone, but for some reason I could not go the same speed as I was struggling with my front tyre as soon as the rear started to drop. The seventh place is quite good but it would be even better to beat the Ducati guys.”
Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda RC213V) says: “During the race I was able to recover some positions, but I’m not happy with the feeling I had with the bike: I struggled with the same problems we had during the whole weekend, I can’t actually feel the contact between the rear wheel and the asphalt and in these conditions it was difficult to ride.
“Unfortunately at the moment we can no longer find the good feeling of the first races of the season. We need to work hard in the next few races to find something that can allow us to get more grip.”
Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing YZR-M1) says: “We are the first open bike and I’m satisfied with todays’ result as we did the maximum we could. It was a difficult weekend and the team did an excellent job. We worked a lot on the set up, changing many things and this morning we tested some other solutions.
“Brno is a very fast track and we knew that we were going to suffer. Moreover, as in Indy, I was struggling with the front, so I’m happy that we could fight with Bradley and my brother Pol. I did the maximum and we got some good points for the championship.”
Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1) says: “I can’t hide that I’m disappointed as a crash is never how a rider wants to end a GP but I still think we did a good job throughout the weekend. Our race pace seemed to be really promising and my start was not too bad as I managed to recover a couple of positions. But the front of the bike felt really nervous and I made a small mistake going straight so I lost some ground.”
“Afterwards Bradl passed me and at this stage I started to feel a bit more comfortable whilst finding a better rhythm, but when I realized that he was opening a small gap, I pushed harder and lost the front without any warning,” he concluded.
