The Australian MotoGP Grand Prix, 18th round of the World Championship on the Phillip Island circuit, confirms it: There is no longer any reason to be surprised by the performances of the Mooney VR46 Racing Team riders!
Certainly the structure of Valentino Rossi has only a few months of existence in the premier category, certainly we have long thought that Luca marini owed his place above all to his family ties with the illustrious Italian champion, and certainly Marco Bezzecchi is a rookie in MotoGP, but we have to face the facts: The two boys are now regularly in the top 10, or even occasionally at the forefront, as was once again the case for “the hairy” of the gang yesterday and for “the handsome guy” this morning.
In the end, with all the hazards of an extremely close qualification, Luca marini et Marco Bezzecchi will start P7 and P9 respectively, but this Australian weekend previously saw the first place 2nd in FP3, and the second appear 2nd in FP2 and 3rd in FP4. Great work which just needs to be confirmed during the 27 laps of the race, to definitively erase the disappointing race in Thailand...
Luca marini : " I'm happy, we took a good step forward compared to yesterday even if we still have a few things to correct. In FP3 we tried hard at the front but we weren't perfect, while the rear wasn't bad at all. Even when attacking the clock, I had room for improvement, not so much on the final position, but on myself. The strategy did not work well and the rear tire was deteriorating a lot, especially in T4. It was therefore crucial to achieve the time on the first attempt. I didn't succeed, but the sensations are good. I'm still undecided on the race setup: the specs are very similar, I don't want to rule anything out at the moment. Everything will depend on the temperatures, even the front tire has significant wear. »
Marco Bezzecchi : " A good day even if I was hoping for a little more for Q2. In the second run I found some traffic and couldn't improve as much as I wanted. However, I am very competitive on the pace and we can do well. We hope that the weather and temperatures will allow us to make the right choice of tires during the warm up. »
Paul Grandson : " Overall, a good qualification for the team, even if the second row was within our reach with both drivers. After a complicated Friday, Luca took a big step forward during the final free practice sessions, while Marco showed excellent potential during FP4 after yesterday's good results. Let's concentrate as best we can for the start, it will be a crucial moment: We can have a good race tomorrow. »
Australian MotoGP Grand Prix Qualifying 2 Results:
Australian MotoGP Grand Prix Qualifying 1 Results:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
