Alex Marquez (P1) – Now I’m more realistic about what happened today, honestly speaking. But in the moment — in Parc Fermé, on the podium — it was maximum emotions. Just super happy, really emotional. To be here, and to be in Jerez. If you ask me, where do you want to win your first MotoGP race, I would say Jerez. I won here my first Moto2 race, and it was already super special, but MotoGP is on another level. The crowd, the people — they get crazy in Turn 9 and 10. On the last lap I was making like this with the hand, you know. I think I did the perfect race, in the perfect mood.
When I saw Marc crash on Turn 8, I said, “Alex, today is your day.” I mean, you cannot lose this opportunity. I made the moves in the right moment, in the right places, and then I just put my rhythm and tried to control the gap with Fabio. Super happy for that and super happy for the team also. Everyone today wanted to be at the front, because it was so important for the front tire. And everybody was a little bit crazy in the first laps and the first corners. In Turn 1, I had a contact with Marc, and I said, “Hey, come on, I need to manage this.” I braked, but I was a little bit on the limit. I saw there was a gap between Marc and Pecco, so I released the brake a little, went wide, and came back. Fortunately, I didn’t lose too much time — just the position with Maverick — but I recovered in a good way, so happy for that. The move to Pecco in the last corner — I already saw this morning in warm-up that it could be a point. And with Fabio, it was more like, “OK, I have the opportunity, I go.” Because at that point, I was starting to feel a bit on the limit with the front pressure and temperature. So I saw the opportunity and I made it.
From seven laps to the end, I was losing a little bit of concentration. I was thinking too much: what the team would be thinking, the crowd, and all that. So I was like, “OK, Alex, try to make your rhythm again.” I pushed again. I was really comfortable with the pace I was doing. I just tried to control it. Maybe the team was asking, “Why are you pushing and making the gap bigger?” But it was the best way to keep the concentration. Because if you start to release in some corners and some braking points, it’s easier to crash with this bike. So I just tried to keep braking in a good way — not crazy — but in a way to not lose the concentration.
At the end, they (the team) asked me, “Why did you wave the hand like that?” I said, I think I wasn’t even in the championship when I saw Lorenzo doing that. And I thought, “Fuck, if someday I’m there, I need to do it.” In Moto2, I had a really big gap once but I didn’t have the balls to do it. This time I said, “OK, I need to do it. This opportunity, maybe I will not have any more in my life, so I need to do it.” The crowd deserve it and it was a really nice moment.
Fabio Quartararo (P2) – It’s incredible! I am over the moon! To be on the podium is something super special. The moments we lived this weekend: with my team, with my crew, with my family, and my friends were amazing – especially making the pole position. Leading the Sprint and Race and making the podium was nice. Fighting at the front is a great feeling. Being at the front and leading a race is something I love. The gap to the winner was not so big here, Alex Marquez just had a bit more today. To keep Pecco [Bagnaia] behind us all race by 0.5s was so difficult. It’s been a long time, but I’m super happy to be back on the podium in Jerez. Thank you to the fans at home voting for me as the ‘Rider of the Race’. Thank you also to all the fans that were here to support us. Also yesterday, after the crash, they all applauded, so a big thanks to them, and see you in Le Mans! I’m super happy to have done this podium before the French GP. Le Mans is also going to be super special because it’s a track that I like, there are many fans there, it’s my home GP, and there will also be some nice liveries there.
Francesco Bagnaia (P3) – “After the battle with Marc on lap one, I pushed hard to try and catch Fabio (Quartararo), but unfortunately I didn’t have enough to overtake him. From then on, I wasn’t able to be as effective as Alex (Márquez) at turns 11 and 12; I couldn’t make the most of them to get closer. In any case, this is a third place that, with Marc’s crash, allowed me to narrow the gap down to the championship lead. Today I couldn’t fully exploit the bike’s potential, and therefore I’m not fully happy.”
Maverick Viñales (P4) – I could close to the gap to the guys for the podium but every time I got near it was harder to stop the bike and I was going slower. I would drop back a bit and then get faster and the same thing! It was like a yo-yo. I knew I had to be satisfied with 4th today, which also sounds quite nice. The weekend was positive and we are building up. We had that good base from Qatar and there will be tracks where we have more or less potential and here was a place where I did not expect much: it’s a long time since I’ve been 4th in Jerez, so I’m happy.
Fabi Di Giannantonio (P5) – It’s been a tough weekend, but I think that we did a good job to secure another Top5 in today’s race. It was the goal today. I’m happy with this result, we were not that far from the podium, it was a good performance overall. But for sure this is not the way we have to work during the weekend, as we saw this weekend, we lost a lot of time trying many things. We learned a lot in Jerez. In tomorrow’s test we have plenty of things to try, it will be interesting also because test days are few, so we have to maximise the kilometres on track.”
Brad Binder (P6) – Much more satisfied with what we managed to do today. We made a big change with the bike and it was turning a lot better, especially with edge grip and I could manage it better. I could push. It’s nice to make a decent recovery. I still need to work on my all-out pace: I’m not fast enough. My consistency was good, I just need that extra speed. I need to find that small extra comfort to be able to push on again.
Pedro Acosta (P7) – We need to improve the first part of the race. There was low grip at the beginning but from lap seven or eight everything started to work and we had the pace of the top group. We could recover a bit. A good feeling. Brad and I were making the same mistakes and having the same issues but I think we were some of the fastest guys at the end of the race. Good overall.
Enea Bastianini (P9) – I can be much more satisfied than in the Sprint race. The pace was closer to the other KTM riders today. My expectations were not too high, starting from 18th. It was difficult and we had some vibration but my entry speed into the slower corners was much better than Saturday, we made another small step.
Luca Marini (P10) – A good day, a good weekend especially when I look at how tough this weekend has been for me. Today I think we achieved the best result I could, I am super satisfied with this and what we have done. Every day we have been able to improve the bike and make good steps forward with my team. Our pace was good, we had some good fights and tenth is okay for where we are. I am coming into tomorrow with positivity and excited to find something new.
Johann Zarco (P11) – I had a good start and felt I could maintain a strong pace. However, I struggled with rear grip on corner entry. I tried to do my best to at least secure some points, and that’s exactly what we did. It was important to stay focused and make the most of what we had. Tomorrow’s test will be crucial to improve in some areas and be fully ready for Le Mans.
Marc Márquez (P12) – It was a mistake we must learn from if we want to fight for the title. We had great speed, but we still need to fully understand the reason behind the crash, as I wasn’t attacking — I know the second part of the race is my strong point. Unfortunately, this is how it went. The important thing is that we have the pace and we’re only one point away from the top. I’m obviously super happy and proud of Alex for the win, as I knew it was one of his career goals.
Alex Rins (P13) – The Race was quite tough because it was difficult to manage the pain and my body’s condition after the big impact I had yesterday. I was able to finish the race. I feel tired, but like normal. We changed the set-up of the bike a bit for today. I did some overtakes in this race. Unfortunately, Marc overtook me in Turn 11 on the last lap, so I lost one position, but it was still a positive day. Congrats to Fabio! He deserves it. This is an unbelievable boost for the entire team. Just chapeau!
Marco Bezzecchi (P14) – It was unfortunately a rather bad race for me because I went long at the first corner on the second lap, going into the gravel and ending up basically in last place. After that, I lapped well, but at that point the result had already been compromised. It’s a real shame. We’ll continue working hard, starting from the tests on Monday.
Augusto Fernandez (P16) – Fabio did an incredible job today, just as he has throughout the entire weekend. He knows the bike inside out and is able to push it to the limit — if not beyond — while minimizing its weaknesses. That makes me really happy because, while everyone is talking about Yamaha‘s V4 project, we‘ve been able to keep improving this bike, bringing small updates and working on the details to give all the riders a better feeling. We also saw it with Jack, who, despite some bad luck today, showed he had the pace for a great race. We need to keep working in this direction. As for me, I feel I‘ve made a lot of progress over these last races. But now, shaving off that final second is the hardest part, especially because of my role this year, where testing new parts makes it difficult to focus purely on speed. Still, I‘m happy with the progress we‘re making.
Lorenzo Savadori (P17) – When you test new elements, you clearly need time to assess them, so this can slow you down and have an impact on performance. We are constantly trying to improve and grow the bike in order to provide a better RS-GP25 to both Marco and Jorge. On Monday, we’ll have the tests and a lot of new upgrades to try. Also, part of what I tested this weekend in Jerez will subsequently be given to the Aprilia factory riders.
Aleix Espargaro (P18) – Today I am satisfied with what we have done. Honestly, I went to bed a little bit angry because I thought we left some things on track. But today everyone was able to make and step and improve, we just need a bit more time and we can be there closer with the other Honda riders. I felt better with every lap in the race and at the middle of the race I was able to mirror the times of the other Honda riders. A solid weekend and importantly our comments align with the other riders, and we have more information for our work. A pleasure to wear these colours.
Jack Miller (DNF) – This morning, we made a small adjustment to the front end by pulling the headstock back a bit, and it definitely helped — I had a better feeling without losing much braking performance. The race was going well… until it wasn‘t. At the rear of the bike, where the wiring loom runs, one of the fairing bolts was rubbing against it and eventually cut through, breaking a couple of critical wires and forcing me to retire. It‘s obviously disappointing because there were some solid points up for grabs today, and we gave them away — but that‘s racing. Sometimes it‘s you, sometimes it‘s the bike. The good news is we‘re heading to Le Mans next, and we‘ll give it everything. In the race, I was feeling strong, even though Morbidelli hit me at the last corner and again at Turn 1, which let Binder and Acosta slip past. After that, I managed to regroup, and the balance of the bike was actually starting to feel better. Unfortunately, we never got the chance to see how it could have ended. Now I‘m excited for the test day tomorrow. We‘ll be trying a few different things on what you could call a ‘normal’ track — with more typical grip, temperatures, and layout — so I‘m looking forward to playing around a bit and continuing to build from here.
Joan Mir (DNF) – We have to look at the positive points from today and the speed we were able to show all weekend. I was able to be fast, but I wasn’t exactly riding comfortably. I let Morbidelli past because I saw he was faster, and I tried to follow him and escape from the other riders, but he was struggling a lot, and I went wide with him. We need to analyse everything from today. If there were eight or nine laps more it would have been a really nice weekend for us, the potential was there – we can be fast, I am fast. But we need to finish. Now we switch our focus and look to Monday and the future now.
Somkiat Chantra (DNF) – I’ve been struggling with arm pump throughout the whole weekend. I thought it might go away, but it kept getting worse. I’ll visit my doctor on Tuesday after the test to find out exactly what’s going on.
