MotoGP | GP San Marino, Marini: “Too bad for the little public”
The MotoGP race will be Luca Marini starts from seventh place, an excellent result for how the morning was going which forced him to go from Q1. For him as for many drivers of the MotoGP it’s the home race and this means changing your rhythms and habits a bit. It will also be the first GP in Misano without Valentino: “The biggest effect is that there is no one in the stands”.
SATURDAY UPHILL BUT THE P7 IS GOOD
Is the seventh position a result that satisfies you? How was your Saturday?
“As for today it was a complicated day, because we had several problems on the bike but in the end the result is positive. Tomorrow we have a good start and in the end the seventh position is not so bad. I’m with the top of the MotoGP, and my FP4 pace is good, I used a very used tire in the rear but I was still quite competitive. However, I will have to try to file two or three tenths to fight for the top4.
We have warm up tomorrow morning and I hope the weather will be good because we have a difficult choice to make on the front tire. On the rear I have no doubts but on the front all three tires could be fine but it will depend on the temperatures. It will therefore be important to understand which one to use for the race. In the end we have to be happy because it was a difficult day, passing from Q1 and with the rain then being seventh on the grid is good.“.
COMPLICATED TRACK CONDITIONS
You started Q2 with the wet tire.
“Yes, because it was starting to rain a lot at that moment and going out with slicks on a MotoGP bike in those conditions was very dangerous. I was in Q1 as much as possible to see what it was like and the curbs were already starting to get wet. When this happens you can start thinking that rain is the right tire. He was going out in the rain, then it stopped raining so I think the strategy was perfect. I just missed a little bit, unfortunately in the best lap I went a bit long at the Quercia and I lost three or four tenths otherwise it was a good lap“.
In these conditions, when maybe you have raindrops on the windshield but the track is not wet, what do you think in those francs riding a MotoGP?
“Instinct tells you, take your time, take your time, do not risk where it is more risky, such as Turn 6 and Turn 15. Go and test what the track is like lap after lap and then in the last circles to put it all together. But in the end the track was dry“.
Did he ask you a little about the Mugello qualification?
“No, Mugello was more difficult. Here at the end of the last two laps everything was really dry, both the curbs and the white lines. In the end, when the MotoGP bikes pass, they heat up a lot and therefore dry the track very quickly, and from the first to the last lap the track has changed a lot. In fact, we made great times due to the conditions that existed ”.
LOOKING AT TOMORROW’S RACE
In which field can you still improve the bike tomorrow?
“I’m in trouble when I have to use the edge of the rear tire. This year the level of grip is really weird. Every time I try to do a “spin” to make the bike turn, there are different movements and we have to improve this area. Either finding more grip or not, touching something else. Now with the front we have taken a step forward compared to yesterday and we have to work together on the rear to find some grip for tomorrow’s race.“.
In Austria you were very competitive in the final part of the race, could this happen again here?
“I don’t know, it’s difficult to compare Austria to this weekend because the grip is completely different. The tires are working completely differently. I don’t think how to use Austria’s competition comparison. In Austria I did well but here many are competitive, the Aprilia are very fast, Fabio is very fast, even Pecco, Jack and Enea. Fighting for the top 5 tomorrow will be really difficult. I hope to find something in the warm up that can help me“.
IT’S YOUR HOME RACE AND IT WILL BE THE FIRST WITHOUT VALENTINO
It’s the first MotoGP Grand Prix at Misano without your brother, what effect does it have on you?
“The biggest effect is that there is no one in the stands. In the end, when you are on the track on a MotoGP whether there is Vale or there isn’t Vale it doesn’t change much. You are always very focused on your work, your ride and how you have to govern. It is an absence that is normal and is felt a lot. It is very heavy and I hope that all Italian and world fans can find new idols and new heroes to inspire them and keep coming to see the races because we need them.“.
It’s your home race, what do you feel like running a few kilometers from home.
“The home race is always black and white. There are many beautiful things about this race: it is very exciting, you have many people next to you, because usually at the races I am alone or at the most with my girlfriend. Here, however, I have my whole family and it is more exciting for this. There are many Italian fans to whom you want to give something more but at the same time it involves many more things to do, you have less time to work in the garage, you have to change your habits a little and the way I usually work but we are professionals and also prepared for this“.
Mattia Cantarini