Misano MotoGP mistakes.
Blame it on the the weather that conditioned track conditions and everyone more or less lost out on all three practice sessions and the fact that they only had part of the qualifying session and a 20 minute warm-up pratice to do their set-up magic, and having almost no long runs to fix up any problems, a big part of the grid seemed to suffer an unusual amount of technical issues.
Check out what the other riders had to say, especially Cardion AB’s Karel Abraham whose numerous technical difficulties resulted in the aborted start and then a big highside.
Andrea Dovizioso – 4th “It is a pity to finish so close to the podium in my home race because I really wanted to make the top three for the first time in Misano.
It was a difficult race right from the start because I had a problem with the front and could not brake hard and enter the corners like during the practice.
That meant I had to change my lines and I was not as fast as I expected and I could not catch Valentino and I could not push.
I just had to ride smooth and at the end my feeling improved a bit because I could at least fight for the podium.
It is a pity I couldn’t take third from Alvaro but I ran wide exiting the final corner.
I did my best and the good thing is that despite a difficult race I was still battling for the podium right to the very end.
We still scored some very important points for the Championship and hopefully with a better feeling with the bike I can be back on the podium at the Motorland Aragon.
”Stefan Bradl – 6th “First of all it was a strange beginning of the race with two starts… after that, since the beginning, I was not fully confident with my front tyre and throughout the race it became worse and worse.
Then in the last laps I even felt something wrong in the front but do not know what happened exactly and must check the data with the technicians.
Once I arrived at the garage we noticed that I had very low front tyre pressure and we are going to investigate later.
In those conditions I was not capable to stop the bike on braking so I was losing the position.
It’s very frustarting because we were in a good shape and I could gain my first MotoGP podium but I have to take the positive aspect of the weekend.
We are capable to stay up in the pack and we will try our best in Aragon.
I want to thank the whole Team because this race was very busy for them and once again they made an excellent job”.
Randy De Puniet – 9th “I am happy, because when Héctor touched me just after the back straight I was lucky not to crash.
I lost a lot of places and I was nearly at the back of the group.
I needed to force things in order to regain ground.
I reached Aleix and stuck with him for seven laps.
I didn’t really feel very comfortable, because after running off track I noticed that the bike was locking up at the front on all the right handers.
I decided to wait to pass my teammate.
At the end of the race he unfortunately had a mechanical issue and was unable to continue, so I’m sorry for him.
We were able to complete the race, took a lot of points and are back in front in the CRT standings”.
Danilo Petrucci – 14th“I know that it could be an hard race because we did just one practice on the dry with a brand new bike, but my team found the right way to set up the bike.
Unfortunately from the fifth lap I had a problem to the quick shift and then to the clutch, but I finished the race because this two points are very important for the next race in Aragon that is a track that I like very much”.
Cal Crutchlow – DNF “I got a really bad start from the front row and quickly lost a couple of places.
Actually it was not that I missed the lights but I released the clutch and nothing happened because the clutch was already out and that was my mistake.
Luckily I managed to stay in fifth position but then it was really difficult to pass Andrea.
On lap four I could see I was catching him a little but he is a demon on the brakes and I was also having a problem stopping the bike with a full fuel load.
I wanted to pass him at the first corner but as soon as I got in the middle of the corner I lost the front.
I got a bang on my left leg and thought it might be injured but the feeling came back quickly and I could have got back in the race.
But the right handlebar was badly bent so the throttle didn’t move.
I am disappointed because looking at how the race unfolded I gave up a great chance to be back on the podium.
Rossi and Bradl recovered quite a few points on me too today, so I need to get back on track in Aragon to make sure I keep fifth place in the World Champions hip.
”Karel Abraham – DNF “This is like a really bad dream.
It sounds unbeliveable, but we had technical problems on both bikes today.
I tried four times to leave the starting grid and the engine turned off four times.
We found out the defect of the small ring on the clutch pistol.
In the end I had to start to the race with the second bike from the end of the pit lane.
After the race start it seemed to me that the bike slides on the left side.
I thought it was due to the new tyres.
In the half of the first lap the rear break stopped to work properly and than came the highsider and really heavy crash.
The problem was with the small screw which holds the brake tube.
The oil from it dripped directly on the rare tyre.
I must see doctors now as my right leg is aching.
Then we´ll decide what to do.
“Aleix Espargaró – DNF“It was a real shame to have the problem as I’d got away well.
It was tough to get into race pace in the early stages but lap by lap I was getting more comfortable.
Today I was quicker than I had been earlier in the weekend and once my teammate caught me I was able to fight properly with him.
Once he overtook me I was riding smoothly and waiting to attack but with seven laps to go I noticed an engine fault and four laps from the end I had to stop on the final straight.
If I had not had that problem I would still be provisional CRT leader, but now is not the time to worry about that.
There are five race to go and we need to keep fighting.
”Mattia Pasini – DNF“This was an unlucky Sunday.
We had a good potential, our setting was well-thought and we were confident we could move up a few positions in the race.
We had an hectic moment with the first start, but once things were rearranged I managed to move up to the tenth placement and we were top CRT.
The bike was working well, but on the second lap I crashed out: we could have had a good race, but we now have to wait for the next occasion to make up for this.
”