The final part of a fascinating triple-header in MotoGP™ has arrived as we land at the beautiful Motegi for the Motul Grand Prix of Japan! After an afternoon exploring the world renowned Asakusa district and Sensō-ji Temple in Tokyo on Wednesday, there was plenty to get stuck into on media day.
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 Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) were joined by home hero Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) for Press Conference 2.
JORGE MARTIN (Prima Pramac Racing)
After Mandalika, do you feel it’s a two-horse race for the World Championship?
“Mandalika was an intense weekend after I crashed on Saturday and then Enea and Marc out of the race on Sunday. It has been a long time since I thought it would be just Pecco and myself for the title, and there are still five races. I think there is still a chance for them, if someone can do it, it’s them, but I feel it’s quite difficult at the moment, so I feel it’s Pecco and myself. For me, it’s a pleasure to be able to fight with Championships like Pecco and Marc and an amazing rider like Enea, so let’s see what will happen. I think they have a chance, but it is difficult.”
Do you feel like it is your time and feel ready this year?
“I will give my 100% as always, I think I am a different rider compared to last season, last year, I felt super strong and maybe even faster than last season, but I am maybe more complete, let’s say. As I said, it’s a pleasure to be here again with Pecco, I remember this a lot from the last part of last season when we were always doing some sort of press conferences together. It is good to be here again for both of us, as we have been the best out of all the riders again, and let’s see what we can achieve.”
Do you see this track as a chance to build on the 21-point lead?
“For sure, last weekend was incredible, even if I lost some points in the Championship, I felt super good after winning again. Since Le Mans was tough, it has been a rollercoaster, I have been quite close to winning on some Sundays, but then I made some mistakes. It was really emotional and good to win, but now we start from zero. I don’t care about last season, last year was a different situation, I was coming from behind, trying to attack, and I won the Sprint and Sunday’s race, but I think this time it will be different and tough. I saw that the weather forecast is unpredictable, so it will be difficult and challenging, so I will give it my best, but we will see.”
FRANCESCO BAGNAIA (Ducati Lenovo Team)
Do you see it as a straight fight between you and Jorge for the title?
“From the start of the season, more or less, we have been making the difference from the rest. It is true that mathematically, it’s possible for Enea and Marc to be Champions. We have to consider them, as myself and Jorge know better than anybody else how easy it is to make a mistake and have a crash this season. It’s something that can change quickly, and I will consider it until it’s no longer mathematically possible. But it is true that half of the season, we are the two that have always been leading the races and the sessions, and I think until Valencia, it will be like this.”
Do you think it’ll be harder to beat Martin this year?
“It looks exactly the same, but in the opposite way around. I think it is nice to battle with Jorge again, it’s always a fair battle, fair fight and fair respect between us. I think it will be the same situation this season, it’s nice to be fighting again like this, and it would be nice to have a battle between us before the finish of the season, but it is a continuation and not a rematch of last season. I think the better rider will win; it was a tough season with mistakes from both of us, but it is true that Jorge was more consistent compared to myself. For the next races, we need to make a little step in performance as we were missing something in the last races, but I am very happy to be here and to fight until the end with Jorge, who I think is super strong.”
Is Motegi a good chance for you to take some more points back his weekend?
“Considering the track and considering the performance of Jorge in Mandalika, we have to look at last weekend in a positive way, gaining three points at a track that suits Jorge. Motegi is a track that I like and a track that suits my rider style better than Mandalika, we have a lot of braking points and acceleration, and it is similar to Austria, which is a track I feel good at. The weather could be different compared to the rest of the season it looks like it could rain on Sunday. We have to be prepared for any situation, and I think our performance could get us a good result and gain points on Jorge.”
PEDRO ACOSTA (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3)
Fantastic result last weekend and on paper a lot of people think this track will suit the RC16, so how hopeful are you to be in the mix for the podium?
“Let’s see, it’s true that normally this track suits our bike a lot and last season, Brad and Jack, without the difficult race, were quite competitive, and the previous year also, Brad was on the podium. We hope that we have improved, and also the way that we are working that we are using, we are hoping to be also closer than we were Mandalika.”
Do you feel you are close to the level to win one of the last five GP?
“It’s true that we have made improvements in the last four/five races, it’s true that in Mandalika, it was important to finish the race as in both races in Misano, we were competitive, but then I crashed in both. Because of this, it was necessary to get more info on race distance, hopefully, we can continue working in this way as we are closer.”
How big is it to have Aki Ajo in your corner in the future?
“I am super happy about this; he is a special character for sure and a character that in the past has helped me a lot. I liked how direct he is, and I was talking this afternoon with him, and I think we will make a good match together.”
FABIO QUARTARARO (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™)
Do you feel you can break into the top six this weekend?
“Well, Misano I was in the top five but let’s see this weekend, especially here there are a lot of acceleration points, we know that we miss some power so it will be crucial. But let’s see if we can get into Q2 tomorrow as it will be nice.”
What are the strengths of your package which can help you this weekend?
“We improved the braking and the edge grip when braking, not in acceleration. I think with that much braking we can be inside the top 10 on Friday as like I said it can change your weekend completely. I hope and I expect to be there on Friday.”
Are you expecting more updates from now until the end of the season and have you been updated on the V4 engine?
“I am not really focused on this engine as right now is the present and we have to give our best to feel the improvement. Yamaha has brought four different chassis in the last five races and it’s already a big thing that we didn’t used to see in the past. Hopefully this weekend the new chassis helps the rear grip.”
TAKAAKI NAKAGAMI (IDEMITSU Honda LCR)
I imagine it will be an emotional weekend for you, how are you feeling about saying goodbye and farewell to the Japanese crowd this weekend?
“There will be sad emotions, of course, it will be my last home GP as a full-time rider. At the moment, I feel that it doesn’t change anything, and I feel the exact same as in the past. Of course, it’s something special because it is my home GP, but nothing more. Day by day, it will change, but at the moment, it is okay, there is no different feeling.”
Tell us about your new helmet for this weekend…
“This time, I wanted to completely change the idea, it is more of an autumn style, and there is also the layout of Motegi on the side, and I mentioned that it is a Japanese GP limited edition. I like it because it is a different idea and the colour, so I love it.”
What is a realistic target for you this weekend?
“On my side, I switched to the new aero package during the race weekend, last weekend from Saturday morning. So on Friday, I used the previous one, which is good because we can understand it better. Then on Saturday and Sunday, we decided to use the new aero package, back to back, and we can clearly see the difference, which is helping the bike during the turning phase, but the bike is a bit more unstable. I was able to feel a positive feeling, but the main issue is a lack of rear grip and then a little bit too much wheelie on the exit of the corner. Here in Motegi, it is a typical stop-and-go track, so I am a little bit worried about the exit of corners, but we already have a plan to try and reduce the wheelie and improve the bike balance, so hopefully, we can find a good feeling as soon as possible.”
