Championship stars delighted to arrive for Phillip Island battle
Premier class quartet Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso and Bradley Smith were joined by Moto3™ protagonists Alex Marquez and Jack Miller to preview the Tissot Australian Grand Prix on Thursday.
Having wrapped up the 2014 title on Sunday in Japan newly crowned double MotoGP™ World Champion Marquez (Repsol Honda) commented, “I feel really good, less pressure, more free. The championship is done, but you are more tired after all the commitments and everything. Of course you can enjoy it a lot after winning a championship and the confidence is high.”
He added, “On Sunday night we celebrated with the team, a dinner with the Japanese staff and then just with the team. Phillip Island is a special place and it is one of the best circuits we come to. It is really nice to ride here.”
Race winner at the last two rounds Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Lorenzo enthused about the venue for round 16, stating, “For me it is always a pleasure to come here. Not only Phillip Island but to be in this wonderful country. I love the cities Melbourne and Sydney and the area around Phillip Island is fantastic. It is my favourite place we come to.”
On his recent form he noted, “We just needed to put the pieces of the puzzle together. We are competitive now and strong. It is not going to be easy to keep winning races, because there are four riders in very good shape. But our level is high.”
Ducati Team’s Dovizioso, who arrives in Australia after getting his first pole position with the Italian team last Saturday at Motegi, explained, “We are so happy, especially for the pole position, that is something special. The weekend in Motegi was good we were fast in every practice. We are getting closer and closer. In the race in the early laps we were with the front group.”
He expanded, “We have to focus on the positive things. Last year we were far behind and now we are close to the podium. I am excited for the project next year. We tested here at Phillip Island last winter and our lap time was close to the fastest rider.”
Briton Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) said of his ninth place finish in Japan, “I believe what we did in Motegi was respectable, third position in terms of the satellite bikes. I was pleased with the outcome of the weekend.”
Of his second season in MotoGP so far he also commented, “Our championship position doesn’t look outstanding. But sometimes the table doesn’t tell the whole story. Our performance level has been better than last year. Some of these guys alongside me here are taking the championship to a higher level and we have to keep up with that. I am comfortable with the M1 but there are still some techniques which I continue to learn.”
Moto3™ World Championship leader Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), said, “I am focused on winning the championship. We have a good package and three races to go. I will ride in the same way as I have done all through the year and try to treat them like normal races. We need to go race by race, try to win all the races and try to be competitive.”
Australian rider Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) is now 25 points behind rival Marquez and he concluded, “To come to the home race it couldn’t have come at a better time after two difficult weekends. We have been competitive at those last two rounds but it hasn’t quite come together in the race. There are 75 points to be won and we need to try and close the gap.”
Earlier in the day a group of World Championship riders were given a surf lesson by Phillip Island local surf school ‘Island Surfboards’ at Smith’s Beach. The riders learning to surf included Pol Espargaro, Stefan Bradl, Yonny Hernandez, Broc Parkes, Ant West, Ricky Cardus and Brad Binder.