Monster Yamaha Tech3 Pair Secures Important Points in Tough Italian GP

“Overall, Mugello has been difficult. All the weekend, especially from Saturday we were struggling a lot and also in the race, I was not able to find a really good feeling. Anyway, I finished the race and tried to take home as many points as possible. I have the feeling, that we didn’t work perfectly this weekend and I just aim to forget this round. The next GP is Barcelona, where we did a great job during the test, so I want to gain my usual good sensations back, because it was not normal to struggle like that here and simply not being able to ride the bike comfortably. I was fighting in every corner and this gave me a hard time. I’m disappointed and just look forward to find my smile again.”

“That was a tough race in very hot conditions. Thank you very much to the team. I’m very happy, because in the beginning of the race I was struggling a bit to find the grip, as after the Moto2 race it was different to FP3 and FP4. I tried to push a lot and have to admit, that I was surprised that the KTM was so fast and therefore, it was difficult to pass them on the straight. I was losing time on the straight and tried to push in the corners and on the brake. This race, I felt that I used all my energy while trying to get close and trying to be in front of Morbidelli. In the end, I wanted to pass Rabat as I was full motivated to make a good race here. It was not easy, but I made it in the last corner. I’ll try to continue to work hard on my body and hope to have even more power for the next race.”

“What a MotoGP race! They gave us an incredible show, but at the same time it was difficult for Monster Yamaha Tech3. Anyway, all through the weekend we knew that it’s going to be a tough race and, in the end, it was like this. I think Johann did the best he could, salvaged some important points in the championship to remain in contact with the top, only eight points from second, so everything is still possible. It was very important to score here after the big disappointment of Le Mans but it is also for sure disappointing to have never been in a position, where we could fight for a top 5, so we have to try to come out of it with a positive feeling. The Barcelona test was very, very good, so we go there full of optimism. We saw that from one race to another, the change of results is unbelievable, like Lorenzo, who was almost nowhere from the beginning of the year and then got this dominant win here. I want to congratulate him for this. So, it’s a very open season and difficult to understand, which gives us some good hopes that we can turn our fortunes in the next races and be back at least in the top 5. The other side of the garage is a much more positive and a much happier team, because I think Hafizh did an amazing weekend. He was fast every day and never gave up. As usual, he kept his head down and climbed up to 12thposition, one more time best rookie of the race, plus he got his top spot in the rookie championship back. We are very proud of him. The pass he did on Rabat was very impressive, especially as we know how much down on speed we were to the Ducati and he’s been really riding with his head and his heart. I’d like to congratulate him and the whole #55 team, because he is doing it outside of the media attention, but we are working, progressing and Hafizh is becoming a very strong MotoGP rider. We just can’t wait for the next race!