The rider from Gresini Ducati was expected to do really well in the MotoGP race at Barcelona. People thought he might win because he had been doing so well in the last two races at Jerez and Le Mans. But he wasn’t so sure about his chances.
He said Barcelona is not his best track. Even though he’s won there twice before, he doesn’t usually do great there. In practice on Friday, he didn’t do as well as he wanted. He finished 12th, which wasn’t good enough to make it to the top 10. He had to do another practice round called Q1.
He said, “We knew this would happen. We hoped it wouldn’t, but we knew we’d have a hard time here in Barcelona. We did better than we thought, but we still have work to do. On a long race, I feel okay, but on a short sprint, I didn’t do so well. Tomorrow’s practice will be the hardest of the weekend.”
He said he’s having trouble with the brakes on his Ducati GP23. Other Ducati riders have had the same problem all season. He thinks both he and his bike need to be looked at to get better.
He said, “My riding style usually works well, but on some tracks, it doesn’t. We need to figure out why. This morning, I felt great, but in the afternoon, not so much. We need to work on both.”
He didn’t do well in the Q1 in Le Mans, but he finished second in both races there. He said the difference this time is that they know what went wrong last time. He’s not sure if he can do as well here because other teams seem to be doing better. He thinks he can finish between fifth and seventh if everything goes well.
He said, “It depends on how qualifying goes. If we do well and start in the third row, we could finish in fifth, sixth, or seventh. It’s not perfect, but it’s good considering how tough this track is for us.”
