Marc Márquez (P1) – “The race pace was incredible and a had a few moments in the final laps. Alex pushed me to the limit: we were both able to lap in the low 1’38s, and we really made the different. It wasn’t easy to overtake him, as the only spot was at turn five. The first time I tried, I ended up wide, but then I was able to make it stick at the second attempt as I was a lot closer to him. I’m happy for my team as they did an incredible job. We weren’t in such a perfect condition as in Buriram, my riding was not as smooth, but the lap-times came and that’s what matters. I can’t wait for the next race weekend at Austin, especially given the moment we’re living right now.”
Alex Marquez (P2) – “It was another great Sunday, maybe the first one in which I really thought I could win. It didn’t happen, but still, it’s a historical day, another one. I knew where I was faster and where I was losing to Marc, but it didn’t go as planned and we know we gave our best. Four second place finishes in the first four races are easier said than done… and never in my wildest dreams I would have imagined that. Let’s continue this way.”
Franco Morbidelli (P3) – “It’s fantastic, I was missing this feeling, and getting back to the podium right here in South America is special. We started the weekend struggling a little bit, but the team changed something on the bike and we arrived to Sunday with a really good bike. The performance was great, I could recover many positions. Now it’s important to understand how to have a good performance in time attack too, but it was a great weekend, starting from eighth, the team convinced me to use the soft tyre in the race. They did ad amazing job, I thank them for all the hard work during all the weekend, and I want to dedicate this podium to all the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team and the VR46 family.”
Francesco Bagnaia (P4) – “I tried to keep a consistent pace, but my strategy didn’t work. When Franco (Morbidelli) passed me, I tried to stay with him, but I struggled a little bit. I managed to get up to speed in the final laps, but I had no chance to try and overtake me. It’s true that we narrowed the gap down, but not enough. Our pace was similar to the frontrunners, but not close enough to finish on the podium. I still miss the feeling I had last year, despite the two bikes being very similar, but we’re working on it and we’ll try to make another step forward at Austin. We need to stay focused because it’s a long season, and it’s important to finish every race, and with the best possible result.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio (P5) – “It was a super weekend. We made a massive step forward in Argentina compared to Thailand, we could fight and we were as fast as the top guys. I am very proud of the team; they are incredible, and we’re doing amazing work together. Today’s race was packed with drama somehow, I did a fantastic start, but then I struggled a little bit with the front tyre due to the temperature. But I was able to take my pace to get a Top5, that is good, but I wanted a podium today. I need to train my body this week to arrive in Austin in a good shape.”
Johann Zarco (P6) – “Although I couldn’t make it to the podium, I gave it my all, and we were strong throughout the entire race. I did everything I could to extract the maximum from what we had, and it was interesting to analyze our rivals and compete at the front. This weekend has felt like a dream and has given us a lot of motivation to keep working and begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Many thanks to everyone for their amazing work”.
Brad Binder (P7) – “I’m happy because I gave absolutely everything I had from the first lap. Also happy to get some points after what happened yesterday. I had a decent enough start and tried to go with the guys. I knew it would be tricky once we had our tire drop but I did my best and tried to make zero mistakes. Unfortunately, 7th was a good as it was going to be today. We are strong in braking and entry but we need to find more grip on the edge of the rear tire. Once we do that then life will get much easier for us.”
Pedro Acosta (P8) – “The bike was working better but we need to understand why it is changing for us between the sessions. My race was more a handicap of high pressure in the front, once I controlled that I could move forward and pass other riders. I was catching Brad at the end but then had some arm-pump and it was hard to change direction in some corners. The only time I had arm-pump in my life was my first race in MotoGP. Normally I don’t have these things. I don’t think it is something important.”
Joan Mir (P9) – “I knew that here, tyre management would be important, and I was in a group that allowed me to do it at the start. Defending myself under braking, I was comfortable, and I had Zarco and Bagnaia just ahead – I was riding in a good way. Then the battle really started with everyone, and I was defending all the time on the brakes, but we had to use a lot of tyre to do this. It’s quite frustrating honestly because I think I could have been deeper inside the top ten – but we were in the mix and fighting with everyone. A good job, but I want more which is also good because it shows the progress we have made.”
Luca Marini (P10) – “My pace towards the end of the race was really good, we did a big, big step with the setting of the bike compared to yesterday. My team did a great job. It’s a bit of a pity because Miller had a slide at the start, so I had to change my trajectory which put us back a bit. I was able to close almost four seconds to Mir after fighting through many riders which meant I had no tyres left right at the end to try and pass him for tenth. During the race we were able to understand some more areas to work on in the coming races which should allow us to be better. Overall, it has been a good weekend with a couple of limits and the picture for Honda is coming more positive. We need to find something in Qualifying to avoid these sorts of situations at the start of the race but super happy with our work.”
Álex Rins (P11) – “Today was tough. It was my decision to race with the soft rear tyre. Yesterday, after the Sprint, all the data pointed towards the medium rear tyre for the Race, but I tried it in this morning’s Warm Up, and the feeling was not good, so I decided to go for the soft. It was actually quite difficult to manage all the race with the soft. I had to be very gentle to manage the tyre life. The front of the M1 is super nice, but there are some other areas we need to work on.”
Maverick Viñales (P12) – “It’s been an important weekend. We didn’t start as we wanted but we recovered a lot of information that brought us up to a better position. I rode the bike a lot better in the race and this gives us motivation for the next one because I think we found a way to go and I felt an improvement.”
Jack Miller (P13) – “The release at the start of the race wasn‘t too bad, but then I had a bit of wheel spin — maybe I was a little too aggressive on the clutch, or the track was quite dirty — which caused me to lose a few positions. Fortunately, I was able to recover them fairly quickly. However, we struggled with grip. We opted for the medium rear tyre, and I‘m not sure if it was the right decision, but it‘s always easier to say that after the race. Anyway, I tried to be as gentle as possible and find my rhythm. With 11 laps to go, I felt like I was catching up to the other riders, but in the end, our tyre degradation was similar, so I wasn‘t able to move forward as much as I had expected. Overall, it‘s been a valuable learning weekend for us. Of course, we want to be closer to the front, and I‘m confident that we‘ll come back stronger in Texas in two weeks’ time.”
Fabio Quartararo (P14) – “There’s not much to say. The touch between Bezzecchi and me in the first corner was unfortunate. I went wide, I was in last place, and also our pace was not super good all weekend. I could have maybe been a few positions higher, because starting the Race like this, you pretty much keep your position. It was a really tough weekend overall. Let’s see if we can do a bit better at the next GP.”
Raul Fernandez (P15) – “First of all, I’m happy with the new steward panel. You can speak with them and can explain your point of view. I agree only 50% with the penalty, because I touched with Enea (Bastianini) a little bit, but he crashed alone because he didn’t pick up the bike. But I’m still happy with the stewards – this is a step for us. Apart from that, we changed the bike again today – I got on this bike in Thailand, when I was injured and I didn’t feel so well with my body and maybe that was a mistake, because we lost the line a little bit. In Thailand it was more or less good but here, after two days, the bike didn’t work like I want. So, we came back to the way I had last year and that was the key to feel competitive again. My starting position wasn’t the best, plus the penalty, but lap by lap I felt the pace to fight with them. I had a very similar pace like Fabio (Quartararo), who was much faster than us yesterday. This gives me the feeling we improved. In the last part of the race, I felt very good with the bike and the tires, so I am very motivated to go to Texas.”
Fermin Aldegeur (P16) – “Too bad, because with the long-lap penalty the race was kind of compromised already. We even had a good start and then, in the best time, while I was behind the faster group and ready to learn, I had to perform the penalty. I re-joined with a good pace but then a coming together with another rider made me lose some focus. We need to improve in many areas, especially under braking, but today I can say that, compared to Thailand, I saw some improvements. Still not result-wise, but we need to be patient.”
Enea Bastianini (P17) – “My race finished very early! I was happy until that point because I made a good start and was fighting for 13th by the second lap…but, well, nothing but I was pushed out and I crashed. I came back on track and I wanted to finish the race to see my feeling. I didn’t have any wings on the left side but my pace was good. I was unlucky today.”
Somkiat Chantra (P18) – “Today was quite challenging; the feeling was notably different from yesterday. I couldn’t fight for the positions the way I wanted to, and it was difficult to maintain my pace. We’ll analyze the data thoroughly and see what we can do to improve this feeling moving forward.”
Marco Bezzzecchi (DNF) – It was my mistake — I braked too late. I managed to miss Franco Morbidelli, but unfortunately, I hit Fabio Quartararo’s rear tyre. I’ve already apologised to his team, but I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise once again to Fabio. In any case, it was a good weekend. We had the pace to battle for the good positions. We still need to improve in qualifying, and that will be my goal for the next GP. I also felt good on the bike in the warm-up session, and I expected to be able to ride a good race, but the mistake on the first corner changed my plans.
Ai Ogura (DQ) – “The race was really good. I was lucky after the start and gained a lot of positions and after that, I could pass a few riders, I was riding with very good pace. In Warm Up we found something and that made it a lot easier to go faster in the race. I think on the brakes, I was ok to pass the other riders, but against Binder, it was really tough to get past. On the exit, I had a bit more compared to him but on the brakes, he was doing very well. I was a little bit disappointed about my last lap, that I couldn’t find a way to pass Binder, but anyway, it was a great race and I’m really happy about today. I’m happy about the weekend, but especially Sunday. It is a great sadness that the result cannot stand.”
Other Aussies
Senna Agius (P13 Moto2) – “This result and this feeling are not what we are working towards this year. I struggled a lot in the race, even though I did my best, but we were really missing something very important. I tried to change my riding style, but I couldn’t build up any feeling from the start and couldn’t get into my rhythm. So, I got stuck behind some riders and couldn’t overtake. That’s a bit disappointing. We’ll take home a few points. But we have to reset and prepare well for Austin. Nevertheless, I would like to thank the team, because they worked tirelessly this weekend. We showed good speed, but something was missing today, we have to analyze that and think about it for America.”
Joel Kelso (P8 Moto3) – “On paper, P8 doesn’t sound amazing, but after serving two double long laps today, we’re happy with our progress! We made around 13 passes throughout the race, caught the front group, and closed a five-second gap. We’re working well and ready to get stuck into COTA in a couple of weeks!”
