“I’m just starting to fight with all the Ducatis because this is almost like a Ducati Cup” – Razgatlioglu
Nicolo Bulega (P1) – “I have nothing to say because we managed the weekend and the feeling so well. We finished even better on Sunday from where we started on Monday, I am happy. It was just a perfect weekend. I was a bit scared for the flag-to-flag like I said yesterday, but I knew that I had the speed. but when you arrive in the race, a lot of things can happen. In a weekend like this, you have to be fast and have luck, and your team has to work perfectly. Everyone just did a perfect job.”
Alvaro Bautista (P2) – “This Sunday didn’t start in the best way in the Superpole Race. However, the feeling was good, allowing me to stay focused and ride in Race 2 as I liked. I am satisfied because my goal for this weekend was to get a good feeling again. We go to Portimao with good feelings.”
Andrea Iannone (P3) – “It was a good Sunday for us in Australia; this morning I got a good start and tried to follow Bulega in the Superpole Race, but we were missing a couple of tenths per lap. For Race 2 we made some changes to the bike and my feeling improved further. In the first stint I had a good advantage over third place, then Alvaro managed to take me. We brought home a second and a third place, we are third in the championship and, above all, we scored more points than last year, which is important for us. Being close to the reference team and getting on the podium means we can be satisfied with the result. I thank Ducati and the whole team for all the work done!”
Scott Redding (P4) –“1 got a good start and at the second comer, I told myself I would just have to ride as hard as I could. I tried everything, but they were at 95 percent and I was at 105 percent. It was only a matter of time before they started going away. In some places I could catch up with them and I thought I could do it. I was focused on them and then Bautista passed me on the straight. I knew there were only a few laps to go before the tyre change, but I made a mistake and had to catch him in the pit lane. I felt good and came out of the pit, but I think I was a little too fast, so I was penalised. I caught up with Iannone right away and wanted to pass him, but I decided to wait one more lap to see if I could keep up the pace by being in front of him, since he had been faster than me all weekend. Then Bautista passed me again. He was pretty fast today. I was struggling a bit more than Iannone, especially in the last few laps, but I pushed until the end. For a moment I thought the podium was within reach but a moment later it wasn’t.” (from GPOne)
Danilo Petrucci (P5) – “It was a good weekend overall, even though in Race 2 the incidents with Toprak affected the result. Unfortunately, he touched me, making me lose contact with Redding, Iannone and Bautista. I’m happy, even if not completely satisfied, because I would have liked to be closer and fight for the podium, but instead I had to settle for fifth place. We scored a lot of points and improved our performance compared to last year, always being in the top 5. Now we have the tests in Portimão before the race, where it will be essential to find a good setup and effective solutions.”
Sam Lowes (P6) – “That was a really good Sunday for me and the team. I said we had the potential to perform better than Race 1 yesterday and that’s exactly what we did and today showed how much we have improved throughout the weekend. I really enjoyed the Superpole race with some good overtakes and it just felt good to be battling close to the front again. It would have been nice to hold off Petrucci in Race 2, but a double top six is a strong way to kick off the new season. I feel we’ve already made a massive step forward compared to last year with my feeling on the bike. The whole team is working better with more experience together and these results give us a strong platform to build on as the season moves on. It’s always good to leave the opening round with solid points and especially at a track like Phillip Island where it is never easy. Now we need to make sure we continue this momentum in Portimao.”
Andrea Locatelli (P7) – “Today, we made a good Superpole Race and we gained some positions for the Race 2 grid. I was quite happy after these 10 laps, I made some good passes and we tried to take a step forward to improve also in Race 2. I was a bit in trouble in the beginning of the long race, fighting especially with the front, but in the second part of the race I recovered well, was able to push harder and I was fast until the end. P7 today, same as yesterday but we need to take the positives, look forward and try to make another step. Now we have the opportunity to ride the bike in Portimao test in less than one month. Let’s recover, bring home all the data because it was a different situation here in Phillip Island compared to last year. I would have liked to be on the podium honestly, I really gave 100% – but this was for us the maximum result today. Anyway, I did my best and my confidence is good, so let’s try again on the next one.”
Alex Lowes (P8) – “It was good on Sunday and I think we improved the bike a little bit as the weekend went on. The races were solid. We finished in the positions we thought we might finish in – seventh and eighth today – but I did not have the confidence in the bike to really fight and was missing the ability to pass. I was stuck for the whole second race behind Andrea Locatelli. Respect to him because he made no mistakes, but I was in the position that if he went quicker I went quicker, but I couldn’t get past him. If I step back, and assess the whole week of official testing and then the first race weekend, it was a good week. We got a lot of information, this was our first time trying the bike in hotter conditions, the first time every trying the bike with an SC1 tyre in the back, and there are only two bimota KB998 Rimini race bikes in the world – Axel’s and mine. We finished all three races and we will take a lot of information back to Europe. We have to be happy with the solid job we did.”
Yari Montella (P9) – “I’m really happy with today, it was exactly what we needed after yesterday’s crash. We made another step forward and I’m happy to have finished in the top 10 in both races. In the long race we managed to stay in the second group, racing with more experienced riders, from whom I was able to gather valuable information.”
Axel Bassani (P10) – “Race Two was a hard one as we are struggling on the straight against some other riders. The start was not really good but afterwards I gained some positions and after a few laps we also recovered track position towards Alex and Andrea Locatelli, who were riding in front. The pace was not bad and I was feeling better than yesterday on the bike. We improved a lot. We were always there, nearly ready to make an overtake but never from a ‘safe’ position. We were always top ten in Australia, and both bimota KB998 Rimini bikes were together, near each other at the end of the races, so we have to be happy. But, at the same time, we have to understand that we have a lot of work to do.”
Xavi Vierge (P11) – “The first race of the year is done. Of course, we were expecting more, but the reality is what it is. The high temperatures didn’t help us either. But anyway, I want to say thanks to the team, they’ve worked really well, even with the extra challenge of two flag-to-flag races. They were just perfect, and this is very important, especially since we have a newly formed crew this year. I can say the same for the work done with my crew chief and electronics engineers. Together, we exploited the full potential of the bike at this moment, and it’s very clear to us where we need to improve. Today, unfortunately, during the Superpole race, when I was ninth and fighting to improve our grid position, I received a long lap penalty, which was undeserved, and I lost every opportunity I had to fight for a top-nine finish. In the end, it made the difference between a possible third-row start and an actual fifth-row start. Anyway, that aside, we need to stay focused on the job ahead. We have a lot of data to look at, as well as a two-day test planned ahead of Round 2. Let’s see if we can turn things around quickly this season.”
Dominique Aegerter (P12) – “We pushed as much as we could, but it wasn’t an easy weekend. In the sprint race, we were fighting for a top nine position, which would have been a big help for the final feature race, but unfortunately, we couldn’t quite make it. I had to start Race 2 from 15th, doing my best to stay close to the riders ahead. Once again, we showed consistent speed, battling for a top ten finish before ultimately crossing the line in 12th. We’ll analyse the data and use it to improve our performance moving forward.”
Garrett Gerloff (P13) – “Honestly it was a kind of horrible weekend and I feel really bad for the team and everyone. We are all giving our best but sometimes if you just don’t have luck on your side, let’s say, it doesn’t matter how hard you work. It was unfortunate that I had Nagashima crash into me in the Superpole Race and I couldn’t finish. Then, I just had no speed in Race Two. We finished in the points, but far from the win. I am giving everything. Thanks to the team for all their hard work and we will try again next time.”
Michael van der Mark (P14) – “Honestly, this week has been a bit disappointing. We’ve been testing a lot, we tried a lot of things but we never really got a nice feeling with the bike. It has been very strange because we really tried everything. Then on Saturday, when the temperature was very high, I did a good lap in Superpole and managed to qualify in seventh position so that was positive. In race one, when we had very high temperatures, I was doing very well. I was enjoying it and the bike felt very good so I was confident but unfortunately I crashed out and for some reason on Sunday we did not have any good feeling at all. We have to find out why the bike felt so different on Sunday. Now we are going back to Europe, we have a two-day test at Portimão and it’s good that we can do a lot of testing there and make sure that we can do a lot better at Portimão.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu (DNF) – “I am never very happy after the first races of the season which has been the case in the past years – the season opener is always strange. To get the podium in race one was not easy; thanks to my team as in every session they improved the bike. I felt a bit better on the bike in that race and we did a very good job. At the start of the Superpole race, I had a big problem and was lucky not to hit someone and to avoid a big crash. For race two we said it would be better to ride yesterday’s bike because I felt that we had been really improving and the grip was much better than before but during the race there was a problem and I could not continue. But I now only focus on the next race. Finally we are going to Europe and I’m just starting to fight with all the Ducatis because this is almost like a Ducati Cup. Nicolò Bulega was strong here last year, so I was not surprised that he was fast. Congratulations to him, he did a very good job and deserves it. I think that we will fight more this year. Álvaro Bautista is also strong, but this year, all Ducatis were in front. This is not normal and I hope that it will not continue like this. Now we have a long break of almost one month and we will work hard and try to come back stronger. We have a test at Portimão and these two test days are really important because we try to improve the bike. We are still not at hundred percent but I know that everyone is pushing hard.”
Remy Gardner (DNF) – “Not the weekend we wanted. In the sprint race, we managed to stay close to the top nine, but it was a tough fight in a very tight pack, and unfortunately, we just missed out by a small margin. That meant I had to start 13th in the final race, where I pushed as much as possible early on. Unfortunately, a tyre issue held me back in the first half, making it a challenging race. After the flag-to-flag, our pace wasn’t too bad, but catching the riders ahead to score more points was difficult. Sadly, I crashed in the latter stages, which wasn’t the way we wanted to end the weekend. Now, we’ll reset and come back stronger in Portimão.”
