The start of a captivating and crucial triple-header in MotoGP™ has arrived as we touch down at a rider and fan favourite for Round 17 – the phenomenal Phillip Island. Ahead of what looks set to be an unpredictable weekend at the Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, our two main title protagonists and some more key names sat down in front of the media on Thursday.
Press Conference 1 saw Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) sit alongside title rival Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) before Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) and 2023 winner Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) were joined by home hero Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) for Press Conference 2.
Check out all the top headlines from the day and then return for more as track action at the legendary Island begins on Friday!
Thursday talking points from Australia
“55% Martin, 45% Pecco” – How close is 2024’s title fight?
Acosta weighs in with his own question in the first Press Conference…
Di Giannantonio to miss Malaysian and Valencia GPs
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) has announced that he’ll return to Italy after the Thai GP to undergo surgery on his left shoulder. Consequently, the Italian will miss the Malaysian GP and Valencia GP as he aims to be at full fitness for the 2025 season.
Press Conferences: Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
WATCH: Press Conference 1
JORGE MARTIN (Prima Pramac Racing)
Is this the most challenging weekend?
“It will be a really challenging weekend, not only because it’s the last part of the season, but the weather is so different here every day, we have a new surface and also different tyres compared to last season, so it will be really difficult and demanding in terms of analysing data for us to understand really fast what we need for racing Sunday and we saw last year that it will be the key.”
How do you feel about the title gap reducing, and is this the most important part of the season?
“It will be the most important part because it’s what remains. There are some parts of the season where Pecco was close or in front, so the important thing for me is to arrive in Valencia with options. There are still three races where we can make mistakes, and for sure, they have bigger consequences; it’s more important, and if you make a mistake, it’s a disaster. We need to be really confident and try to be competitive.”
How special would it be to win in Australia?
“It is a super nice track, and it is one of the best tracks to ride, at this point, I would love to win, but the important thing is the Championship. I will think more about that, but if I had the opportunity, I would take it 100%. It would be super nice to win here.”
Is Acosta someone who you need to watch in the next four races?
“I think Pedro is super strong, and he already had the chance to win in Japan, but he crashed also, I think he wants his first MotoGP™ win this season so bad. He will be super strong, but we also have Marc and Enea, who will be super strong and will have their own battles also and will try to win.”
Pedro Acosta: Will the manufacturer influence the Championship battle?
“For me, I can’t control that, so I won’t focus on that, I will focus on riding, but I hope not. I will focus on what I can control, which is to ride at 100% and try and be fast.”
FRANCESCO BAGNAIA (Ducati Lenovo Team)
A big challenge coming up this weekend?
“We were speaking about it before, and I think the most challenging thing will be to understand the tyres because it looks like we will not have dry sessions to understand what tyre will be good for the race. The soft tyre is the medium from last year, and already last year without new asphalt, it was a bit on the limit, so we have to understand it, we will have tyres with a. different casing like Indonesia, so we have to try and understand it. Also, the conditions, tomorrow looks like it will be rainy, Saturday looks windy, and Sunday looks ok but cold. We have to understand it, and like always, Phillip Island is complicated to understand, but the asphalt looks great, and hopefully, we will have a better feeling compared to what we started with last year.”
Do you feel you can lead the World Championship after this weekend?
“What we have learned is that it is not mandatory to be leading the Championship right now, and if it happens, then it happens, but in the case of gaining or losing points, it is not a problem as we understand that this will be decided in Valencia, it will be very complicated to decide it before. We will try our maximum, and if our maximum and if our maximum is to finish second, then we will try and finish second, but we know the potential is to win, so we will try everything to win and gain points like Indonesia and try and continue this in Thailand.”
How special would it be to win in Australia?
“I had the chance in Moto3 for the first time, but I had some complicated races with the battles that we were having. In Moto2, it was a disaster for me in both years, and in MotoGP, I was close in 2022 and 2023, but you never know. We will try again this year, but we have to be thinking about the Championship and try to get the maximum without taking too much risk, and here at Phillip Island, not taking too many risks is a huge thing.”
Is Acosta someone who you need to watch in the next four races?
“In Indonesia, nobody was expecting his performance, but then what happened with the tyre pressure. I will just think about Motegi, and it was true that he was fast. He was very competitive from the start of the weekend, and I was expecting him to be competitive as KTM was always fast in Japan, and he is a rider who brakes really hard. He was fighting for his first victory, so we already know the potential of Pedro, he was super good at the start, and then he lost some of his confidence, but it looks like he is back. This track is good for everybody, the bike makes less of a difference here because it is very fast, and it is difficult to make this difference, so I think it will be difficult to see someone opening a gap.
Pedro Acosta: Will the manufacturer influence the Championship battle?
“I think if they wanted to help me in some way, then already in Misano, I could already have something better than what is already our package because we tried a new chassis, and the chassis is not ready for everybody, so we are not using it. It’s more correct that it’s like this, and Dall’Igna was always clear on that as soon as I started to ride with Ducati and in the last two seasons, the factory team has the same package, and If I have something new, then everyone has something new. It’s a different strategy compared to others, but it’s the strategy which has put Ducati in this position. Now Ducati is so competitive because of this strategy, and I don’t think that we will change something until Valencia.”
WATCH: Press Conference 2
PEDRO ACOSTA (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3)
How much are you looking forward to the challenge?
“Japan was nice, it was like a dream, but we need to see the positives, it was the weekend that I have been the most competitive all season, and we need to see the progress that we have made in the last couple of races, and I am looking forward to this track that is normally one of my favourite of the calendar, also the atmosphere is quite nice.”
Where do you think you’re making the difference, and what will the bike’s strong points be here at Phillip Island?
“Let’s see, it is a completely different track to Japan, and I think we are improving small things because, in the last couple of races, many of us tried many things like Jack with the aero. For this, we are making small steps I think at the start of the season, we were trying to make many ways to ride, but maybe there was only one way to ride this KTM bike, but we are finding our way to be fast.”
Do you feel that Ducati are beatable here?
“Yeah, I said in Japan that they are not unbeatable and are not untouchable like everyone and even us thought. It is true that they are at a really good level and are one step ahead of everyone, but we are not so far behind. We need to believe and keep pushing in this way, and in Mattighofen, they are doing great work to bring us new things. It is not easy, and I think in the last races, we are using new things, and I think it is working. We need to be open, listen to what the factory and test team are saying and try to follow their ways.”
JACK MILLER (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing)
How special is it to be back here and to ride with the fans?
“First and foremost, it’s always good to come home, especially having the short trip down from Townsville and having the week at home. Coming to the island both yesterday and today with some spectacular, I don’t predict that it will stay like that as it is already starting to turn out there. I mean, we have had a couple of beautiful days, and the whole area is fantastic when the sun is out and not blowing a gale. It’s awesome to be back and to feel the love; it’s something special, and every year, it has gotten better and better. It was 10 years since we won that race, and it feels like just yesterday.”
What is a realistic result?
“I think anything is, as we have seen times over the years at the Island, if you are having some slight issues, you can mask it here. Fingers crossed, we can get away to a solid weekend, it looks like the weather conditions will be iffy throughout Friday and Saturday. The least amount of dry track time, the better, I feel like we hit the ground running but throughout the season to make progress on FP1. I feel like the least amount of dry track time will help because the speed is there from the get-go it is just making those improvements throughout the weekend.”
How impressed at Pedro Acosta are you?
“It’s easy to forget that he’s a rookie because he’s riding like a seasoned veteran. He is leading the charge for us, and Brad is also doing a fantastic job as well. There is no hiding that I have had my issues, and I think the boys are doing a fantastic job to be able to ride around it and put the bike where it needs to be on Saturday and Sunday.”
JOHANN ZARCO (CASTROL Honda LCR)
How special is it to be back at Phillip Island one year after your first MotoGP™ victory?
“It was a nice feeling, clearly, just to arrive on the island because even without the victory from last year, Phillip Island has a special taste. When I arrived yesterday, it was fantastic weather so just that, you look around and you’re happy. I was cycling on the track in the morning, and I got a good feeling at the final two corners, thinking about the moment when I was leading the race, and I got this first victory. It was pretty nice, and I am still so happy that it happened here because it is a track that I like and that impresses me because the corners are special here, which I think made the taste of victory even better. Let’s see how we can perform this weekend with these long corners, and let’s see if we can get closer to the others.”
How confident are you that you can battle in the top 10 in Australia?
“Clearly, the last two GPs gave a good boost for me and the team, even in Japan, where Friday didn’t start so well, but then the two races that we got were quite interesting. Here, it doesn’t seem to be a track for acceleration, where we have had a wheelie problem. I hope we can lose less time to the other, and if it keeps working, then it means that the step forward that we made in Misano is working, and we will confirm it here, and that will be positive for Honda, knowing that they understand and we can keep going forward.”
