Decent weekend for Gresini Racing, which had certainly accustomed us to more explosive things lately. After an unlucky meeting for Álex Márquez in the United States (ill then cut down by Jorge Martín on Sunday), the Spaniard, expected at the turn, never managed to get into a comfortable position, whether during the Sprint or race. He finished 8th. Fabio Di Giannantonio, for his part, is not doing much better by his standards. Since 12th place, he has not continued his good momentum started in Argentina (10th, then 9th in Austin).
We put things into perspective at Gresini, and the pilots confirm it. On the evening of the race,
Alex Marquez states: “ You have to be happy: I never felt completely comfortable on the bike between yesterday's fall and today's heat.
Oddly in the fast corners, which are usually my strong point, we lost a lot but today the objective was to bring back important points and stay upright. From 10th to 4th place in the championship we are all there and tomorrow's test will serve to get to know the bike better and arrive sharp for Le Mans ". It is true that nowadays, trying not to join the infirmary is already a success in itself. But Marc's brother knows it: he must constantly play at the front to ensure a medium-term future in Grands Prix.
Content with the result of hoy. It's important to finish the road and reach the points. The public, as we already know, a 10🔝. Jerez, hasta el año que viene!🙌🏼#Alex73 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/phh73nWwex
- Alex Márquez (@ alexmarquez73) April 30, 2023
Fabio DiGiannantonio, for his part, is even more optimistic: « The whole weekend was positive, we went from riding with the third group to constantly being in the second. We were missing something at the end, in the middle of the race I was too optimistic. In any case, we are learning a lot and compared to last year, here we have halved the gap with the first. Tomorrow, very important tests, we are going to try things: Settings, ergonomics, with the aim of being more comfortable on the bike ". Importantly, this is the first time Fabio has scored in three consecutive rounds since joining MotoGP in the 2022 season.
Photo: Michelin Motorsport
If he is right to raise the gap with the first, we must keep in mind that this data – which we tend to exploit somewhat indiscriminately – is relatively variable. It does not necessarily reflect an intrinsic progression from one year to the next.
Whatever the case, the pressure does not fall off immediately for the duo. Meet at Le Mans, a destination where Enea Bastianini won for the team a year ago. What do you think ? Can they surprise you, in rainy conditions for example?
Tell us in the comments!
Here are the results of the 2023 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix:
Classification credit: motogp.com
Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport
