Last night’s exciting MotoGP QP1 and QP2 sessions seemed a very positive return to the good old days when there used to be real qualifying tires and the mentality of the riders has to change and some have to be more ‘ballsy’ and have more confidence regarding their machines and tires right off the bat and some will have to perfect their strategy and timing.
Check out what the rest of the riders had to say after qualifying.
Cal Crutchlow – 2nd “It is a very positive way to be starting the first race from the front row of the grid and thanks to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team because I had a great bike underneath me tonight.
I was confident going into QP2 of being able to challenge for the front row because I was fastest in FP4 and the bike felt like it was working really well.
I must admit the 15-minute format is really exciting and I think it is great for the Championship and for the fans.
I’d have liked it to have been only 10 minutes long because that would have put me on pole position! But credit to Jorge because he pulled a brilliant time out of the bag, though I am really satisfied because starting from the front row is always important.
It is going to be a very difficult race but I am ready for it.
I think there are six of us that can be fighting for the podium and I will certainly be giving it my all to make sure I am one of them.
” Stefan Bradl – 5th “The fifth position is our target because the rivals are very strong in every circuit and in every condition, so we must be very happy with our performance today.
During the free practice 4 we improved our set-up and our front-end feeling which was the key for going faster.
I was not completely happy so we made another adjustment before the QP and we have been lucky because it worked good.
This new qualifying system made everybody nervous but, at the end, it has been exciting.
All the riders used the same strategy and there was a lot of traffic but we will get used to this and I think it’s more fun for our fans”.
Alvaro Bautista – 8th “The new qualifying format was good fun but in fifteen minutes you don’t have time to make any mistakes.
I didn’t have much feel for the front tonight and we tried to fix it but we’re still not happy.
My pace on used tyres isn’t bad so we’ll try to improve the setting in the warm-up and I’m confident that if we make a good start I can run with the front group.
The race is long and this track isn’t easy so anything could ha ppen but we’ll see! ”Bradley Smith – 9th “I was really happy to make it into QP2, so to claim a place on the third row for my first MotoGP race is an incredible feeling.
I’m particularly pleased because I only used one soft tyre in the 15-minute session and it looks like everybody else set their best time on their second soft tyre.
I used an extra one last night in FP3 to make sure I made into the top 10 for QP2 and I want to keep another soft tyre for the Warm-up session to give me some feeling ahead of the race tomorrow night.
So to be on the third row is better than I expected and to be in front of Nicky (Hayden) is a bonus.
Hopefully tomorrow night I will be able to get in a battle.
That’s the best way for me to learn how to ride this bike more and gain more experience, and I don’t have a target other than that.
”Andrea Iannone – 10th“Unfortunately, after riding in Q1, I only had one soft tyre left for Q2, or I probably could have done something better.
Along with my team, I want to understand how to change my riding, because I have some problem in tight corners.
However, I improved my time in every session, and I think that’s absolutely a positive.
My goal now is to finish the race inside the top ten.
”Aleix Espargaró – 12th “Although we still have the most important part of the weekend to come, things are already going really well here.
It’s crucial to start the season charged up, motivated and working hard.
Myself and the team are so pleased and we want to make the most of this in the race.
We had the new format of qualifying and it was great to get through to the second round.
In addition to that we have a good race pace and with this good work under our belts we want to continue as top CRT.
The new qualifying sessions were brilliant as you have to perform well from the word go, with less traffic on track, so it’s also great for the spectators.
”Ben Spies – 13th“The session was going okay for us at first.
We were just working on race setup with old tyres on from yesterday, and we actually started to get faster and gain some confidence.
Then I just got into turn 2 too hot and I grabbed a lot of front brake and went down at pretty good speed.
Fortunately, we were able to get up and go out with the second bike.
The problem was that the back of the bike had a completely different setting, and I couldn’t get up to the same speed that I was at before and get into Q2.
Overall, it was good to get back on the bike, and it was good that we were getting up to speed.
I’m sorry for the team, and we’ll come back tomorrow.
”Randy de Puniet – 14th“Finally a day with some good news! Today we made a big step forward and I’m pleased because we’ve found some solutions to issues which were holding us back.
I’ve also reduced the gap to Aleix, from over a second to five tenth, with the adjustments we’ve made especially to the front end.
That gives me more confidence on the bike but I still need to try a few more things before the race in warm up, continuing on the same path as today.
Aleix looks really strong here at this first GP but with today’s improvements maybe we can challenge him as top CRT.
”Lukas Pesek – 15th“I think I was faster than we expected.
I’ve been on a good group for a couple of laps, I went at once strong and that’s what really matters.
The strange and amazing thing for me is that I finished among the top three CRT ever in these qualifications.
I’m really happy to be able to achieve this result.
Tomorrow we must see how the race will be for me.
I race here with the 125 but with the MotoGP is all another thing, it is as if it were another track.
”Colin Edwards – 19th“We made a little change to the bike today for the qualifying; we kind of came back to what we had but wasn’t the golden piece and because we have no major dramas with the electronics since we kind of found something that works, so we didn’t try to do anything too crazy today, kind of stick to what we’ve got.
We went out to qualify and went four tenths faster than I had gone all weekend, I am excited for the race tomorrow.
The new qualifying system was pretty cool, instead of sitting around for an hour it was down to business; you only had a certain amount of time and it was done.
I enjoyed that.
As far as where we qualified today, it doesn’t look good but that is all we had today so we will have to wake up bright and early and wait for the race and get on the gas.
”Danilo Petrucci – 20th“First of I have to get in habit of the new system of qualification then I’m not the type of driver used to use the trails as is common to do in the smaller categories, especially I have not found anyone on the track to attack in 15 minutes.
We had planned to do a good ride with the soft tire, but I made a mistake and I threw this opportunity, in the second run, instead I did two laps alone that made me realize that good or bad my time is not too far from the other CRT.
”Claudio Corti – 21st“I am pretty happy even if the lap times are not incredibly fast because the feeling with the bike has improved.
We have been able to make the bike easier to ride and in terms of the race that means that it will be easier to maintain a good race pace.
I could have improved of a few tenths the lap times since I realized that during my fast lap I made a few mistakes.
Yesterday we found our selves having a few problems after the free practices but we managed to overcome them in time for tomorrow’s race.
I hope to have a good start and a good race; I want to get close to Colin and the other FTRs.
We can’t let our guard down and we have to double our efforts.
We will see what the result is after they wave the checkered flag tomorrow!”Hector Barbera – 22nd“So far we have been very competitive and it looked like we could be one of the best in the category, but in Free Practice 4 the bike would not start,” he explained.
“I went out with another bike but I could barely tour.
Then in Q1 a similar thing happened … it’s a shame because after having a good pre-season and having performed well yesterday and Thursday, we were unable to make an impression when it came to the moment of truth.
Hopefully we can fix the problem for tomorrow.
”Bryan Staring – 23rd “I am satisfied tonight because I feel I am slowly getting to grips with MotoGP.
My position on the grid isn’t the best but for me it was important to go into the race having taken some steps to further improve my feeling with this bike and we did that.
I feel more relaxed today and I am sure we can start to make some real progress soon.
Unfortunately it takes time but I have a very supportive team.
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