Misano MotoGP II

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez was one of the riders taking part in a press conference overnight at Misano as the MotoGP field readies for round 16 of the world championship. The Spanish phenom showed what he is capable of at Austin, a circuit where he is not too hampered by the lack of strength in his shoulder, but expressed his frustration at the ‘really slow’ progress he is experiencing in trying to build his right shoulder back up to strength.

Marc Marquez

“I arrive here at Misano with the feeling of the test more than Austin’s race, we know Austin is a special circuit and still I feel a big difference between left and right corners. But anyway let’s see. In Misano 1 was better than what we expected before the race and it was a result I didn’t expect. This weekend we will try to do a small step, top five will be a good result, but it’s true that here and in Portimao I would like to be a bit faster on the right corner circuits.

“I keep improving but too slow for my… I mean it’s really slow. The comeback is difficult, even like this I’m able to ride in an acceptable way and I’m able to finish on the podium three times this year but still it’s not the way and the performance I would like. So we need to keep pushing, keep going, three races to go. But what I predicted for the second half of the season is what’s going on, I’m constantly in the top five and closer to the top guys, so this was the target and at the moment I can achieve it every weekend..”

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The championship contenders also aired their thoughts ahead of this weekend’s battle.

Fabio Quartararo

“I’m feeling really good but to be honest my head is not really on that part (championship). I think we need to take it like a normal race but we know on Sunday something special can happen. But first of all on Friday and Saturday ,we need to plan it like the rest of the year, and then on Sunday we will see the amount of risk we will take. But Friday and Saturday will be a normal situation for the moment and then we will see what will happen.”

Will he take as much risk as the San Marino GP?

“We will see. It’s how I like to race but I have never been in that situation. Last year I learned a lot, not how to fight for a championship but to be leader of the championship for many races was an important step for my experience, and this year I think it’s much ‘easy’ let’s say to have it. At the moment it is a normal race and we will see how much risk we will take on Sunday.”

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Francesco Bagnaia

“For me the only thing I can do is win, to try and stay in the Championship fight. We know 52 points are a lot, but we will try. We still have the possibility so we will try. It will be different this weekend because the conditions are different and looks like it could rain on Friday and Saturday. For sure this weekend I have to go all in and try to make something.

“For sure our ambition is always to improve. Looking at my last two seasons in MotoGP, it was not the year to try and win the Championship, this one, because I struggled a lot in the past years, I crashed a lot, I broke my tibia last year so I had problems. This year the objective was to continue growing. After the summer break we made a step forwards, and in the last races another one. I am happy with the work we have done in the last races but for sure the work we have done this year can be better for next year.”

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And of course the man that will have more fans cheering him on than anyone else on the grid was part of the pre-event press conference.

Valentino Rossi

“It’s a bit of a strange situation because it is already the second time here in Misano and the second race is particular, because usually we race just once, but with the Covid situation we’ve learned to stay at one track for more than one race. It’s a great chance to say Ciao! to all the Italian fans so it is great to race here in Misano at my home circuit. I hope the weather will be good for the weekend, because this period in Italy is a bit more difficult so I hope for a dry weekend, especially on Sunday. Try the maximum during the weekend to be competitive during the race.

“It’s a long story, more than 400 races in my career. I just have to say thank you to everybody. I have had incredible support all over the world, especially in Italy. I always give the maximium, we enjoy a lot together as it’s a long career with a lot of great races. We will see on Sunday, anyways after Misano we will have 2 more races, it’s always a sad moment when you arrive at the end but anyways it was good. We’ll enjoy it!”

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2021 Gran Premio Emilia-Romagna Schedule

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MotoGP Standings

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2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar

Source: MCNews.com.au