Australian Grand Prix Practice - Rider Quotes
- Oct 16, 2015
- 4 min read
Day one at Phillip Island was a tricky on weather wise. FP1 was upset with spots of rain falling throughout and the wind was fairly strong in both sessions. Despite this, the riders were able to get in a lot of laps and get some good data under their belts.
Bridegstone have brought the asymmetric front tyre back to Phillip Island and, after last year's trouble with the compound, the riders were keen to test the tyre. Initial feedback is positive, but some more running will need to be done tomorrow to see if it is viable for the race.
The big complaint was about the lack of grip on the circuit. The cooler conditions certainly would have done nothing to help the situation, but some have said that the track is in a worse condition than last year. Honda riders really suffered, with all exclaiming that they encountered a lot of rear spinning on corner exit. This has been a problem for Honda all year and they will have to resolve this via the electronics.
Despite their issues, it was Honda who topped the time sheets after FP2. Marc Marquez set the fastest lap of the day at a 1:29.383. Jorge Lorenzo was 2nd quickest and Maverick Vinales 3rd on the Suzuki.
So lets have a look at what some of the riders had to say about their day's work.
Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP:
“We have tried some settings, but in general we have a good basis. The track is very slippery, it's a lot worse than it was two years ago and last year. It's bumpier as well, but that's the same for all the riders. Our pace is very good, we just need to improve the acceleration a bit and some other details for tomorrow.”
Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP:
“The feeling was not so bad, especially my pace this afternoon was quite good and also with a used tyre I was able to do some good lap times. I was not strong enough doing a hot lap on new tyres but at the same time we tried the asymmetric front tyre that everybody used and the feeling was not so bad. We have to work a little bit on the bike, but it's OK. We will wait for the good conditions tomorrow and will try to work on improving in some places and try to be stronger.”
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team:
“It was a good day overall. The morning session was a bit tricky because there was some light rain, but you could still go fast. In the afternoon we worked a lot on setting the bike up for the race, because it will be held at a similar time, and I think we took a step forward. Once again, Jorge is very fast, but we are working well, we have good pace and were able to set a good lap. What is important is that the changes we have made to set-up of the bike have allowed us to improve.”
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team:
“Today we started to work on the set-up of the bike, trying to think about tomorrow and Sunday's race, and we tested the asymmetric front tyre. We have to keep working because we had some difficult conditions in the morning. Although it was clearer in the afternoon, there was still not much grip and we could not make much headway. Let's see if tomorrow the track is in better condition and we can improve.”
Cal Crutchlow, LCR Honda:
“Today wasn't too bad at all. We had a little problem with the set-up of the bike, so we needed the rear grip a fair bit because we have a lot of spinning at the moment. But overall we are happy, and hopefully we can continue to improve tomorrow. I do hope that we can have a full day of dry weather so that we can put in enough laps to get work done for Sunday's race. Today has been a positive day though, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.”
Bradley Smith, Monster Yamaha Tech 3:
“It's great to be back at this superb circuit and overall, it has been a quite positive opening day of action. First this is first though, the nature of this track is very fast so this morning was a massive wake up call because when you go into corners like the first and third, as well as the back straight, it takes your breath away! It's exciting to ride but it certainly awakens you even more at ten in the morning! It took me a bit of time to adapt to this, but in the afternoon I got up to speed. We really focused on trying to improve my performance in the last sector of the track in FP2 as I believed that it will be very important to remain consistent in this area in the race.
“However, we are still struggling there a little bit, but we'll continue out work on this tomorrow as we aim to find some more stability and grip. In any case, we are not too far from the front, which is positive especially considering that we had a few difficulties, so I'm convinced we'll have a good base to start from tomorrow. So I look forward to jumping back on the Yamaha again and then clinching a good grid position for Sunday's race.”
Andrea Iannone, Ducati Team:
“After this morning's session, it was important for us to get an idea of the direction to take for the set-up. Maybe I could have done a bit better today, but in the end it's OK the way it is. Tomorrow I hope we will manage to make a further step forward, especially with 'rideability' and electronic management, because we want to go even quicker, be more constant and improve our pace.”
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