“The press are always speculating”
Thursday, 30 May 2024
That they are, and with good reason as the Ducati decision regarding 2025 rolls on. That pretty much guaranteed at least two of the attendees to the first press conference on Thursday, if not all three, as Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) was once again joined by Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™).
The second press conference then welcomed Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing), with more future chat there too.
That was all after Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) joined the MotoGP™ Podcast, with the Frenchman opening up about this new chapter in his career.
Here are some photos and quotes from the opening day!
JORGE MARTIN
How much are you looking forward to this weekend?
“It will be a really important weekend, it is my home weekend and Ducati’s home GP. I want to improve my results from Montmelo, it was not an easy weekend but I was able to improve from Saturday to Sunday and I was really close to the victory. However, Pecco was superb and he managed better than me. I was super focused on the weekend so hopefully, I can close that gap on Pecco, who I think is the favourite.”
Are you confident that the factory seat is yours?
“The media and press are always speculating, so we always have to discuss this information. But it is their job and we have to deal with it and it is my job to ride so I will try and be really focused on this weekend. As I said it is a really important weekend for Ducati and my team so I will be 100% focused and on Monday and Tuesday we will have time to speak so we will see what will happen.”
PECCO BAGNAIA
How much are you looking forward to this weekend?
“I love this weekend, it is one of my favourites, not just because of the layout but because we are in Italy and the Ducati works perfectly at this track. Seeing all the people around the track makes it more special and magical.
“We have hard braking and long corners so it suits my riding style perfectly.”
MARC MARQUEZ
What can you do to help with your qualifying?
“In the last races my race pace has been good, I have been fast and consistent and this has made the difference for me to be able to make the comeback. However, I still need to understand what to do during a time attack a bit more. With Honda, I was struggling but during one lap with a slipstream I was able to be faster, but with this bike, I feel much better when I am alone. I need to find a way with the team and we have a few ideas including working on my riding style which I need to work on a bit. But it is the process of the time attack which we don’t have much time during a weekend to improve.”
If Jorge gets the factory seat, what options do you have?
“We have had some interesting conversations, and the people who need to know what and where I feel comfortable already know. So I am clever with my ideas, and all I can do is be fast on the race track because with this, I will have more options to choose.”
ENEA BASTIANINI
How much are you looking forward to trying to fight for the podium in front of your home fans?
“I hope I can! I now come from a bad situation in Montmelo and this track is one of my favourites. I have tried since 2014 to stand on the podium but it has not happened yet so I hope that can happen this year. However, we have to enjoy it because I have some good memories from this circuit and hope for some more luck than I have had in the past.”
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
What do you need to make the next step?
“I think we started this year well from the beginning, we had a good feeling with the bike, and we are trying to maximise everything from the 2023 bike. It seems at the moment we are losing too much time in the opening laps of the race so this is what we have to improve. I think we are close to the top guys so I don’t see why we can’t be there from the beginning and give a good show to the fans. This place as Enea said is so special to Italian riders so it would be super if we could achieve our best result of the year here and maybe achieve a podium.”
RAUL FERNANDEZ
How much of a confidence boost was last weekend?
“We did a really good job and I am really happy to have had a good weekend which for us was really important after a long time I enjoyed it. I was really competitive but we need to see how we are on a good track. But when you end one weekend like we did it is always a nice feeling when you recover your feeling and enjoy riding the bike. But we need to work and see what happens here, it will not be an easy track for us as Ducati is strong here. We need to continue to work to get the maximum out of our bike and try and enjoy which will be the key.”
