“It will be a good fight”: Media Day dispatch from Misano

Thursday, 05 September 2024

The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli plays host to Round 13 of 2024 and on Thursday at the Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, there wasn’t a shortage of topics to get stuck into. 

Check out the key story from Misano’s Media Day as one of the final 2025 rider puzzle pieces slots into place, and then enjoy the press conferences as eight riders sat down to chat to the media on Thursday. Press Conference 1 saw Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) sit alongside Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Aragon GP winner Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) and Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), before Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) were joined by Trackhouse Racing MotoGP™’s Miguel Oliveira. 

Check out all the top headlines from the day and then come back for more as track action begins on Friday!

JORGE MARTIN (Prima Pramac Racing)

Misano was one of your strongest weekends in MotoGP™. Do you feel you have the potential to dominate this weekend and do you feel that you are the strongest in this lead group in the Championship?

“It’s nice to be here in Misano after last year’s result but what I did last season doesn’t matter anymore. Now the important thing is to keep improving and keep learning because now the level is rising a lot. I feel like I am progressing, I am getting better and better but so are the others so it is quite difficult. I feel like here in Italy will be a super good weekend for Pecco and Enea as they train a lot here so it is a nice track for them but also for us. Dominate will be difficult, trying to repeat what we did last season will be super hard but I will try my best.”

Where did you make the difference last year in Misano?

“Last season I felt good straight away from the first Practice but Pecco and Marco were injured so I don’t know how much this was stopping them, but for sure they were not 100% which was an advantage. I was strong, I was missing some speed at the fast corner on the back straight so hopefully I can be better this year.”

FRANCESCO BAGNAIA (Ducati Lenovo Team)

How are you feeling physically and is Misano the perfect way to turn the page after a difficult weekend in Aragon?

“First of all I want to say sorry to Alex (Marquez) for the strong words I said during the interviews after the race. I was very angry about what happened and looking at the telemetry was even worse from my point of view. I was a bit too strong with my words, I didn’t want to say that he made us crash on purpose but his defence was a bit aggressive, like it is normal when you are fighting for the podium positions. I still think the same about the incident because I have my way of thinking but for sure the words, I said were a bit too much and I said sorry to Alex. Physically I am not at 100%, I feel a lot of pain in my shoulder, over the collarbone by my neck. We will try to be ready; it is my home Grand Prix and it is always fantastic to race in front of the crowd here. I cover a million kilometres every year here so I can be ready in any case.”

Do you think it was important to speak with Alex on Sunday?

“Yeah because sometimes anger can make you say something that you don’t think, so from my point of view it’s that. He came to our office to say sorry and we are two riders with two points of view and are respectful, and for sure we had the same ambition at the wrong moment.”

MARC MARQUEZ (Gresini Racing MotoGP™)

Does Gresini’s home weekend give you an extra push this weekend?

“Yeah for sure my target for this season has been achieved in Aragon so now it’s time to keep working and after that weekend we can breathe a bit more, but we need to use that extra boost, the extra confidence to keep working. With the team and the bike, we are learning something every race and are finding something, feeling better. I would like to start here with the same feeling as the Red Bull Ring, that will be enough for me as it means that already the feeling is good. I know that Aragon had very special conditions because of the surface and the storms during the night. For this GP, I think these three guys will be super-fast and we will try to be close to them.

What was it that convinced you that you could fight for wins again in 2024?

“Right there (referencing a video of him at the Valencia Test) I realised that my decision was the correct one, to keep going and change the direction. At that point I realised that sooner or later a victory would arrive during the 20 races, I knew that I would have some strong points at some circuits. Now we need to work on the most difficult thing in this Championship, which is consistency, this is what these two guys are better at than us and we will try to find a way to be faster in our weak points.”

ENEA BASTIANINI (Ducati Lenovo Team)

Do you come here with high expectations of hopefully achieving another weekend like Silverstone?

“We will see, it is early to think about it but I am very happy to be back here in Misano, I missed the race last year because of injury. I am ready to come back to this circuit, it is one of my favourites because it is close to my town and also because my speed is also good as we train a lot here. I think we can be competitive, but also these three guys will be competitive and it will be a good fight. In Silverstone, it was so nice to ride from Friday and I hope to have the same sensation here. In Aragon, something didn’t work from the start because of the new asphalt but it can be different so let’s see.”

You will have huge support from family and friends this weekend, does that bring any extra pressure?

“I think we have to do many races and it will be important to stay focused for the rest of the season. I like the rest of the calendar, we have two races here in Misano and we are prepared before the Asian tour.”
 

PEDRO ACOSTA (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3)

How confident are you that you can maintain the level that you showed in Aragon here at Misano?

“First of all, I’m happy to be competitive again in Aragon. It was a good weekend overall but it’s true that our competitors will be fast here. Also, Brad and Dani had an awesome race last year so why not aim to be as competitive as Aragon as a minimum.”

Herve told us, “I am convinced that Pedro will be a title contender in 2025, not just because of his speed but because he ticks all of the boxes, he is the complete package,” what do you make of his comments?

“Let’s try and cross our fingers, for sure the jump to the factory team will help as the developments that we have made in the past couple of months were awesome and the steps that we have made and I think we will be competitive sooner or later. It’s true that we are one step behind our competitors but this is a thing of time and I think we will best fast sooner or later, and we can’t forget that our project is still quite young. For sure we will make a bigger step in the next few months.”

FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team)

How much of a boost did Aragon give you and what do you expect this weekend in Misano?

“It was a fantastic weekend because before coming there I didn’t think it would be possible to complete the race or this type of race. So, we arrived with no expectations and in the end, it was possible to make the race and make a very good race because I was starting from far back and I made a lot of overtakes. At this moment of the year, we are trying to manage the pain because I am still trying to manage the collarbone from the crash at the Sachsenring and then my left shoulder in Austria. At the moment the body is a little bit on the limit but I’m not worried because with the bike we are feeling really good, we know that the 2023 bike has a little gap between the 2024 bikes but I think we can make a good race here in Misano.”

Your first race here for the VR46 Team, does that give you an extra push?

“For sure. Yesterday we had a big team dinner and the energy is really high, everything and everybody has a lot of will to have a good weekend, so it will be important to give our maximum. Misano is always special but this year is even more special.”

ALEX MARQUEZ (Gresini Racing MotoGP™)

Firstly, how are you physically?

“Good. I mean maybe I’m not 100% after a big crash, it’s true that it’s not easy to recover, the body has just two or three days. I had three hours of physio on Monday, also today I had two hours. Day by day I am much better and I think I will be 100% this weekend. I like the fact that he apologised, it’s something which I am thankful to him for. It’s true that the damage to myself, my team and also to my rider image has already been done. That being said I want to close this chapter and want no one to speak about it. We are coming from a really positive weekend in Aragon, so we will look forward, we have an important weekend here as it is the team’s home GP, so we need to be really focused from the beginning.”

How important is it for it to be Gresini’s home GP?

“It will be really nice to ride at the front. I know the hospitality will be full of guests and these good vibes will be positive so we will try the maximum that we can achieve a good result. We struggled here last year as it’s not a track which suits my riding style well, but I think we are focused and if we come here in good shape then we can get a good result here.”

MIGUEL OLIVEIRA (Trackhouse Racing MotoGP™)

What was the motivation behind this new challenge?

“I think first of all it is a little bit of a shift of the focus that they are having at the moment to develop the current bike. Despite the rules changing in two years, Yamaha does not want to wait much longer to come back to the top. After being involved with two manufacturers I feel that my adaption capability is high, I am riding in totally a different way compared to two years ago. I think this will help to give feedback and get things going quicker. Having a second factory team and being involved in a team such as Pramac is a huge motivation for me and I can’t wait to get started.”