Marc Márquez (P1) – “I was obviously eager to win here. When on Thursday I got asked what the goal at this track was, I said that, with the red bike, it was the win, as this is the bike against which I had lost many times before at this track. I knew that Marco (Bezzecchi) and Pecco would be my main opponents over the long distance as Alex had to serve a long-lap penalty, from which it’s hard to bounce back. We had already noticed that, among all Ducati riders, Fermín (Aldeguer) was the one who could manage tyre wear the best, so when I saw his name on the pit board I knew I had to start pushing again, and we finished with a good pace. I’m happy, we’re doing some great work and now Balaton awaits us.”
Fermin Aldeguer (P2) – “I don’t even know how I did it. There are those days in which you take to the track and everything works perfectly. I had the perfect feeling from the get-go and the more I rode, the faster I got. It was a fantastic yet unexpected race because this Austrian track has never been among my favourites. The goal is still the top five, but today, for a moment, we even thought about the win.”
Marco Bezzecchi (P3) – “I am extremely pleased; it was a brilliant race. Considering the way we began Friday, closing out the weekend with pole position and a podium is incredible. I am truly satisfied with the work done together with the team. The battle in the lead was fantastic and I gave it my all. Now we’ll be looking ahead to the next race in Balaton.”
Pedro Acosta (P4) – “We pushed until we destroyed the front tire! It’s never easy but we have to be happy. We’ve been in the top five all through the weekend. We made a big step with our race time and our potential here. We still have a lot in the pocket and we’re still learning. We wanted a podium in our home GP but we’ll keep pushing.”
Enea Bastianini (P5) – “I’m happy with the result; my best of the year. I made a mistake after two laps, in Turn 1, and I tried to comeback. I was strong and I did what I could. We still have some solutions to find for the future…but the improvements are clear in the last GPs. The top five was my target today. I’ve changed the bike a lot this year but we have a base set-up now and I haven’t changed anything for the past two races; only working on myself. The factory have done a good job and the new aerodynamic worked really well. We’ll continue to try being more competitive.”
Joan Mir (P6) – “I think we gave our 110% today and I am honestly really happy. This has been our realistic target this whole weekend, sixth has been my position in almost every session. We have to be happy with this, after the last few races it was tough and the last time I felt like this was in Aragon because we have had many moments of misfortune since then. It was a funny race with a really good battle at the end; I just tried to remain consistent and catch Bagnaia and Binder steadily. The result is a little boost in confidence, really important when we have a calendar like we do this year, so let’s capture this and keep working. Thanks to everyone in the team for working great all weekend to help us to get here – a great way to return from the summer.”
Brad Binder (P7) – “Today could have been much better. I didn’t get a good start but made some moves and was up to 5th. I was then sent into the fans by another rider! I lost a few seconds there and one of my wings. It was tough from then on because it was hard here for the wheelie without the aero and the bike was wobbling more. It was a long race! I felt like I put up a good fight and did all I could. We got 7th today but the potential was there for more.”
Francesco Bagnaia (P8) – “It’s difficult to explain this type of performance, especially on a track where I’ve always been strong. I got a good start and everything looked good in the opening laps, even though I didn’t have the same pace as the frontrunners. The idea was to stay calm and bring home the best possible result, but then I began to slow down as soon as I lost support from the rear-end. Today I found myself battling for the top eight and was 12 seconds behind the winner at the line – my pace was slow. The weekend started off very well and the pace shown on both Friday and Saturday morning was a good one. Then we know how the Sprint and race went, and it’s a pity. The potential is there, but we can’t express it in the race right now.”
Alex Marquez (P10) – “Considering that we’re leaving Spielberg without losing points from Pecco, we can say we’re happy. Today’s race can’t and must not make us content, long-lap aside. We must focus immediately on Hungary, where we want to return on competitive form.”
Johann Zarco (P12) – “I gave my maximum and it was a tough one. Even though I had a good feeling, at some stages I couldn’t push any further without risking mistakes. It has been a difficult weekend, but we learned a lot and gained valuable insights. Despite the difficulties, we managed to score points on both Saturday and Sunday. The team is working hard and in the right direction, and we need to stay focused on that. Let’s see what the next race weekend brings.”
Luca Marini (P13) – “All weekend we have had really good pace and I was looking forward to the race today because I was expecting something. We lost some time at the start and I got sent wide at Turn One and was last at one point. From there I just put my head down and focused on making as many overtakes as possible. Like we have seen in the past, when you have to come through the field it gets complicated and you arrive to a limit. It was an enjoyable race and we take the positives to Hungary to keep checking our new parts.”
Fabio Quartararo (P15) – “We are giving it our all to try to understand what exactly happened at this track this weekend. I didn’t have a good feeling in the Race. I overtook Jack, and that’s all. The pace looked good on Friday and Saturday morning, but for the Sprint and Race it completely changed – there was less grip. I watched the WorldSBK races at Balaton Park, and it looked a bit stop-and-go, which is usually not good for us, but we will see. We’re ready to build from here and take steps forward.”
Alex Rins (P16) – “We had a productive but hard weekend. It was a productive weekend because changing your riding style during a GP is not easy, but thanks to the team and Dovi, I was able to do it. It still doesn’t come naturally, so that’s something we still need to work on so I can ride without thinking about it. I couldn’t do more than the result we got today, but we knew about the problems and just gave our maximum.”
Miguel Oliveira (P17) – “Since the warm-up with the medium rear tire, I understood it was going to be quite a difficult race. It‘s frustrating when you can‘t do anything with your riding to be faster or to fight. It was really tough for me – one of the worst races I‘ve ever done. I think the four of us Yamaha riders all have our strengths and weaknesses in different parts of the track, but our struggles were quite similar. Today the ranking doesn‘t really matter regarding which Yamaha finished first or last, because when you‘re at the bottom it‘s irrelevant. We have no grip when accelerating out of corners, and we lack a lot of support from the rear to lean into the corner and turn faster. I think one of the biggest issues with this bike is the stopping. Fabio makes a huge difference on the brakes, but that‘s down to him – he‘s the one making the difference. We‘re already at the limit with the potential of this bike.”
Jack Miller (P18) – “There‘s not much to say after a very, very difficult weekend for all of us. It‘s disappointing, to say the least. I felt good for the first five laps – and by ’good‘ I mean the grip was acceptable, but it was the kind of grip we should normally have at the end of a race, not at the beginning. And here, we never had that level at all. It‘s quite clear on paper that this weekend our bike simply doesn‘t work with this rear tire and its construction. There‘s just no way to make it work. I tried everything I know – from short-shifting, to being super patient on the throttle – just trying to find a way to defend myself. But once you reach around 120 km/h, when the momentum should be enough, we start losing load on the rear, the bike spins like crazy in a straight line, and there‘s nothing you can do about it. The front end of the YZR-M1 is phenomenal, but the rear is the limitation. We need to work hard to understand how to improve it.”
Jorge Martin (DNF) – “I started well, but maybe I was a bit too cautious. I tried to maintain the position, but in the early laps, the others began to overtake me straight away. I’m still lacking a bit of experience in those opening stages of the race, where I need to have that aggressiveness. I went from 14th to 9th, and then back to 14th. The front pressure was extremely high. Yesterday, I managed to ride more comfortably and in a more fluid way, but today I was at the limit of my possibilities in a situation that is new for me, because I had never ridden the bike with such high pressures. It’s a pity about the crash, but fortunately there were no physical consequences.”
