If there is a subject on which the always cold Luca marini instantly begins to rise in temperature, it is indeed that of the minimum operating pressure of the front tire, to the point that as soon as the subject was broached during one of the press conferences prelude to the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix 2023 in Jerez, the usually calm Italian driver begins to raise his voice, recognizing in fact that he is not respecting the regulations, and taking responsibility for it perfectly.
You must be very satisfied with your start to the season?
« Yes, it's exactly like that. I have very good memories of Austin, where I never had good results, but that's in the past and I have to concentrate on this race. I think this race will be even more difficult because everyone is really strong here, every manufacturer has done a lot of testing here and has a lot of data, so it won't be easy. It is certain that qualifying will be the key to having two good races here. »
Did you learn from Valentino Rossi or is it natural?
« I think everyone does more or less the same thing. We want to observe the best driver at the moment, we look at the data if it's the same manufacturer and we try to improve what we did. Álex is very strong in Austin and I would like to understand where he can make the difference with two different manufacturers. »
Will you have anything to test in Jerez?
« Nothing ! »
Does this worry you?
« No, I focus on myself and what I can do with my team. I think it will be a very important weekend: If the weekend is not very good, it will be bad. Maybe if my lap time is bad compared to what I expect or my race pace is not very strong in the race, then we can work a little, but hopefully everything goes well like the last races, I think that on Monday we won't have to ride much! »
Regarding the presence of Valentino Rossi in the paddock…
« It's fantastic to have him here. I hope he can give me some good advice! We'll see (Laughs). »
It appears that the new front tire pressure rules, which were due to be implemented this weekend, will be postponed at least until Mugello and may not come to fruition. Can I have your opinion on the matter?
« I'm very glad you asked this question! In my opinion this is not a correct rule because we are not talking about performance now. It's just a safety issue for us, when the pressure gets too high it's very easy to fall and it's really dangerous. And you can't start too low because you can't control whether you're overtaken by another rider or riding alone…. So you need to check this every time. Now, it's already difficult while we don't have the rule, but with the rule it will be even more difficult, and I don't know why the goal of the rule is to be so high.
Because if you go lower, it's not a problem! The bike runs great, the tire doesn't do anything strange, it's just added safety. When you get past 2,0 or 2,1, it's too easy to fall, and it's too dangerous for us, in my opinion. The show is also impossible because you cannot overtake another driver: If you do, your pressure is around 2,1 or 2,2. You wait and try to avoid falling. For me, this rule is therefore not important to implement, because you are not faster if you go lower with pressure. »
You say it's okay to use low pressure in the front tire. How far have you gone so far?
« Honestly, I don't know, but the same values as everyone else. For me the only important thing is not to go too high when you are behind another rider, because then it is impossible to steer the bike, impossible to try to overtake or try to avoid falling. I don't know how far we can go down relative to the correct numbers, but I expect we won't have a problem if we go very low: you just get a very soft tire and you get slower if you go too low. In my opinion, it's not a safety issue because if you try to go very low, then the tire performs less. »
