“In 2010 I did a full season, crashed a lot. A lot. And then ever since, from then…there was a 450 class the year after in 2011 then took the step to STK600 in the British championship. And here’s another story with my dad, again, at this point I was probably quite cocky…I was 16. Thought I was an absolute hero, riding round on my STK600. Did no testing…a day at Mallory and I was like ‘YEAH! I’m ready to ride a 600’. Turned up at Brands Hatch Indy, the first round, and I was like ‘Dad, I’m gonna win this weekend.’ Again, he says, ‘You need to stop thinking like this because it’s going to end in a bad way.’ I put it third on the grid, and then the race was wet. I’d done no testing, I rode warm up in the wet and I was 23rd and I was thinking ‘Oh my god’. Come the race, I won it by ten seconds! Complete opposites.”
The MotoGP™ riders have been busy on the first morning of the Misano Test and currently leading the way is Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) with a 1:33.539, 0.024 faster than fellow Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Ducati Team test rider Michele Pirro is third on the timesheets, 0.111 behind Quartararo.
The Pro Draft, new for 2019, cemented MotoGP™ eSport as a global Championship, with 72 participants from 16 countries making it through, from as far and wide as the USA, Brazil, South Africa, India and Indonesia. Those 72 fought it out to become finalists, with 12 players emerging to move through to the final phase of the Championship – the Global Series, played on Lenovo Legion™ PCs.
“Winning is always an indescribable feeling. No matter the category. Being on the top of the podium makes you feel like you’re floating. Everything is strange up there; the smell of champagne, the people from your team cheering down below, the fans in the grandstands applauding, and then raising the trophy to the sky. It’s a moment that seems unreal, it’s like daydreaming. And in MotoGP it is even more extraordinary.
Alex Rins tops the podium from Marquez and Vinales – Silverstone MotoGP 2019 – Round 12
“I was already able to experience this feeling in Austin. I remember my team on the fence on pit wall, all climbing up, screaming and celebrating. It was my first victory in the MotoGP class, and it was a truly exultant moment. Winning the battle against a legend like Valentino Rossi was an unforgettable memory. And it was made much more special by the fact that it was a race in which we did not have really high expectations.
Marc Marquez & Alex Rins – Silverstone MotoGP 2019 – Round 12
“The same thing happened in Great Britain too. During the weekend we were competitive, perhaps enough to fight for the podium, but we felt we were missing something to fight for the top spot. But on Sunday the unimaginable happened. After the warm up we found something that allowed us to fight, and we tried it…
Alex Rins – Silverstone MotoGP 2019 – Round 12
“The race was exciting, very hot, which is super unusual at Silverstone! Do you remember what it was like last year there? Last weekend was the total opposite. The asphalt was pretty good, with a lot of grip, and the weather conditions were great for riding. The start was very good, I soon placed third and then I had a scare. The bike thought about ejecting me, but fortunately I could control it! Uff. I saved myself from a crash then I turned my head and thought: ‘That could have been a big mess!’
Silverstone MotoGP 2019 – Round 12
“Then my goal was to stay close to Marc. So, I overtook Valentino and followed him. Later on in the race when Márquez let me pass, I thought ‘Damn! Let him pass back again and do not show your cards in the last corner’ because I was stronger there than him. Just one lap before I had gone wide, on the outside. That’s why the last attack had to be done inside, with some more traction. Not even in my dreams could it have ended better! And on top of that it was beating Marquez, another extraordinary rider.
Marc Marquez – Silverstone MotoGP 2019 – Round 12
“All the members of my team with whistles making a lot of noise … it was so much fun! I took my whistle onto the podium but in all the excitement I dropped it! In Austin the team got megaphones and at Silverstone they made sure to make a lot of noise with the whistles and cheering so loudly! They really celebrated. Then on the podium, Kepa, the Spanish national team goalkeeper and Chelsea goalkeeper, gave me the trophy – so we were almost all Spaniards … except Davide!
MotoGP Podium 1) Alex Rins, 2) Marc Marquez, 3) Maverick Vinales – Silverstone MotoGP 2019 – Round 12
“One more beautiful thing was to see Sylvain there. He came to the parc fermé immediately and we had a big hug. He is doing a great job with this bike, as are all the people working in Japan! Thanks to everyone that helped me to get this second win of the season, and thanks to all the fans for their support too!”
Alex Rins & Marc Marquez – Silverstone MotoGP 2019 – Round 12
Alex Rins is currently third in the MotoGP World Championship points standings.
It has been an incredible rollercoaster of a year for the Petronas Sepang Racing Team since the announcement twelve months ago that the team would step up to Grand Prix racing’s premier class with Yamaha. One year on from that day at the British Grand Prix, team principal and Sepang International Circuit CEO Razlan Razali spoke about how things have evolved for him and the team.
Razlan Razali and Fabio Quartararo
One year ago, could you foresee the amazing progress made by the team in its first year?
“There’s no way we expected to be in this fantastic position after only twelve rounds of the 2019 season. We were hoping for Franky to deliver top six performances and for Fabio to target rookie of the year. We didn’t expect both of them to do what they’re doing and we’re extremely happy and satisfied with them. To be able to deliver such strong performances for our title sponsor is key, and we’ve achieved even more than what was desired based on the targets we set at the start of the year.”
Fabio Quartararo
What was the most memorable part of making the announcement about the move to MotoGP?
“The most memorable moment of that time was sitting in front of the media at Silverstone and announcing the line-up, even before we officially announced Petronas would be title sponsor. Seeing our young Minister of Sport, Syed Saddiq, witnessing that alongside Carmelo Ezpeleta from Dorna and the CEO of Petronas, Wan Zulkiflee, was the beginning of where we are today.”
Fabio Quartararo congratulated by Marc Marquez after qualifying – Jerez MotoGP 2019 – Image by AJRN
What has been the biggest surprise of the move to MotoGP?
“Without a doubt the biggest surprise has come from Fabio. When we announced him as our second rider, a lot of people told us we made the wrong choice – but now everyone agrees we made the right decision! He’s delivered the biggest surprise of the year, with a series of podiums, pole positions, top fives and top tens. He’s been fabulous, and he’s truly talented. Having pole position and second place at only the first European round in Jerez was exceptional.”
Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli celebrated topping qualifying at Jerez, however Quartararo’s weekend was ruined by mechanical issues in the race
What gives you the most pride from the past twelve months?
“In general for the riders to perform, they need support from the team, and my proudest moments are seeing how the team has gelled as a whole across all three categories. The Moto3 team has of course been around since 2015 and the Moto2 team is a year old, and it’s been a challenge for them with a lot of different riders on the bikes over the past two years. So for them to click as a team, to support our riders and to get along with everyone as the team expands to 48 people is impressive. There’s such a good ambiance and chemistry. Of course there’s always room to improve and nothing is ever 100% perfect, but we can be proud of what we’ve done.
“I also couldn’t be more proud as a Malaysian to finally have our own Malaysian MotoGP team. We can tell fans and media from across the globe that we’re Malaysian and we can act as our country’s ambassadors. We’re proud of that role and I’m honoured to be able to represent the country in the paddock.”
Fabio Quartararo at COTA
What has been the secret of the success of the project so far?
“A lot of people ask me about us as a team and I’m not really sure how to answer them, because we just capitalise and maximise the experience of all of our individual members. Johan Stigefelt, for example, is great at putting together people and logistics – the framework of it all. Wilco Zeelenberg is very experienced in a MotoGP team and his experience with Yamaha helps us out. We capitalise on the talents of the people we hire in a horizontal way, not just vertically. Everyone is very functional in their roles, we try not to overstep the boundaries and we have constant communication. That’s the secret of where we are in terms of perception, presentation and at the end of the day the performance of the riders too.”
Fabio Quartararo leads Pol Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami at COTA
How special will the Malaysian Grand Prix be this year?
“The Malaysian Grand Prix is our home race, it’ll be the first time our MotoGP team will compete at Sepang, and we expect the riders to do well in MotoGP and Moto3, and if Pawi can come back in Moto2, then he can do well too!
“We’re already anticipating a bumper crowd with 200,000 spectators over three days, and 115,000 on race day. It’ll be a huge event for us and we can’t wait.”
Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo
What are your goals for 2020?
“For next year we’ve certainly set a benchmark standard for a new team, so there’s more pressure for us in the second year. Of course we want to do even better, and I’m sure both riders will continue to do well. I hope that by the time we arrive at this point in the 2020 season my ambition is to have at least one MotoGP win.
“Once you have a taste of success like a podium, a pole position or even a win, you crave for more. You want to keep going, you want to push the team to deliver even more. But no matter what we achieve, our goals remain the same and it’s important for us to maintain our focus and our objective. I’m really looking for a win and a podium at the Malaysian Grand Prix though!”
Fabio Quartararo
When can we expect to see the rider line-ups confirmed?
“For MotoGP, we’re continuing with Franco and Fabio and this should be an amazing combination for the team’s second season. For Moto2, we have some time to confirm our plans, whilst for Moto3 we announced John at his home race so half the line-up is in the public domain. Watch this space, we should have further news soon.”
The last Finnish Grand Prix was held at Imatra when only 125cc, 250cc and 350cc machines raced, with the last time premier class racing taking place twelve months prior. On August 9th, 1981, Marco Lucchinelli beat MotoGP™ Legend Randy Mamola by nearly twenty seconds to clinch 500cc glory and the last premier class victory on Finnish soil.
Hamilton is pretty handy on a motorcycle and even visited the Petronas Yamaha SRT team at the opening round of the 2019 season in Qatar. However, Marquez has some form in a Formula 1 car after testing at the Red Bull Ring in Austria last year, so it would certainly be a close fight.
The format dictates players must use the PC to compete for a place in the Global Series with the quickest rider here having first pick of the MotoGP team he wishes to represent in the Global Series. The second fastest has the second pick, and so on. The exception to the rule is the reigning eSport Champion, Trastevere73. As he is the current Champion, he will choose first.
Bringing you the Best Motorcycle News from Around the Web!
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
