Category: MotoGP

Avintia Esponsorama and Sky VR46 Avintia have completed the first two free practice sessions of the Bitci Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg on Friday.

Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini ended the first day in Austria in 12th and 13th position respectively in the combined practice times. Both riders set their best times in the morning session, as the second free practice has been held in wet conditions.

Tomorrow at 9:55am the third free practice of the Bitci Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich will start, where Bastianini and Marini will have one last chance to get a position that will allow them to go directly to Q2.

“It was a bit of a strange day as we didn’t expect rain today. This morning we started with the right foot and immediately set a good time. I made some changes to the front of the bike, but the problems didn’t go away, so we’ll keep working on it tomorrow. With the wet track the lap times weren’t quite good and we’re limited on medium wet tyres. Anyway, I did some laps to see how the bike was behaving and to understand what the potential is. We are ready for tomorrow.”

“We have been working on the bike during FP1 and we found some improvements that will help us for tomorrow. It was a pity that it rained in FP2, because we are a bit limited on the medium wet tyres. We’ll see how FP3 goes, it will be a key session, we have three softs to use and then three time attacks to get a competitive time.”

The MotoGP World Championship will contest this weekend at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg the second consecutive Grand Prix, this time the Bitci Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich.

Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini completed a good weekend at the Styrian Grand Prix. Both managed to cross the finish line in the points in the race, where the Avintia Esponsorama rider was 12th, while the Sky VR46 Avintia rider was 14th.

This weekend at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, Bastianini and Marini will have another opportunity to continue scoring important points for the team at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The action at the Austrian track will start on Friday at 9:55am, when the first free practice for the premier class of the Bitci Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich will take place.

“We are still in Austria and we will see if we can have a good race. On Sunday we had good potential but unfortunately we started from 20th position, so everything got complicated. Let’s see if we can get a better qualifying result this weekend. I’m prepared and we will keep an eye on the rain, because this will also be a factor that will affect our performance, but let’s be positive.”

“We are back in Spielberg. The first race was not perfect, but we managed to finish in the points. Now we face another weekend at the same circuit. We will work again on the details, which are also useful for future races, and on how to make a step forward in the early stages of the race.”

Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini have completed in the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg the race of the Michelin Grand Prix of Styria, where both riders have managed to cross the finish line in the points zone.

The race of the premier class has been declared in dry conditions. The race was marked by a red flag caused by a collision between Pedrosa and Savadori on the second lap, leaving the exit of Turn 3 full of fuel. The race was stopped for several minutes while maintenance and cleaning were carried out.

After the second start, Enea Bastianini has executed a great comeback, adding 4 valuable points. The Italian, with 13 laps to go, was penalised with a ‘long lap’ when he was in points positions for exceeding track limits, which caused him to lose some positions. Despite this, Bastianini has been able to recover places to ascend to the 12th position. The Avintia Esponsorama rider, is the 17th classified with 31 points.

Luca Marini was 14th. The Sky VR46 Avintia rider, has shown a good pace and has added 2 more points to. After the Michelin Grand Prix of Styria, the Italian rider is currently 20th in the general classification with a total of 16 points.

Next week, the Avintia Esponsorama and the Sky VR46 Avintia will compete at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg for the second consecutive grand prix, this time the Bitci Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich.

“It was a very difficult race. We had a good pace and tried to recover positions, but unfortunately we suffered a penalty for exceeding the limits of the track. We have taken a good step forward and the qualifying was a shame because we deserved to be further ahead, but fortunately next week we have another race and we will have a new opportunity.”

“In the first start, the feelings with the tyres and the bike have been very positive, but in the second, with the change of tyres, I started to have no grip on the rear. In the first few laps it was hard for me, then as the tyre wore out, the times were similar to those of the others. I have tried to be consistent, to do my best and to not make mistakes. Next week we will do another race here and work again on the details, which will be useful for future weekends.”

The Avintia Esponsorama and the Sky VR46 Avintia have completed the qualifying session of the Michelin Grand Prix of Styria at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg.

Enea Bastianini will start the race from 20th position. Despite this, the Italian rider had achieved the best time of the session, which would have allowed him access to Q2. Unfortunately, Bastianini has exceeded the limits of the track and his lap time has been cancelled.

Luca Marini has not been able to go through the cut of Q1. Sky VR46 Avintia rider set a best time of 1:24.115 and will start from 18th in tomorrow’s race.

Tomorrow at 14:00 the Styrian Grand Prix race will begin, where Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini will look to continue adding important points for the team.

“I’m upset because I’m sure I haven’t exceeded the track limits, so I haven’t understood the cancellation of the lap and I haven’t been shown the pictures either. In FP4 we managed to take a step forward and tried to understand what was causing me to lose time. We are ready for tomorrow’s race, although I think we could have started in a better position, but there is no turning back.”

“It’s been a normal qualifying for our current potential. We are working well with Ducati and the team. We still lack something, but the most important thing is to always be able to get the most out of what we can. Tomorrow everything can change, the weather is very uncertain. For sure it will be a fun race, on this track you can do many overtakes.”

The Avintia Esponsorama and the Sky VR46 Avintia riders were in action today for the first two free practice sessions of the Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg.

Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini set their fastest laps in the morning, as rain made its presence in the afternoon and made it impossible for the riders to improve their times. Marini finished the first day 14th in the combined practice times with a best time of 1:25.207, whilst Enea Bastianini was 21st with a time of 1:25.585.

Tomorrow will take place the third and fourth free practice before the qualifying session of the premier class of the Michelin Grand Prix of Styria.

“It was a positive day and I was able to have fun on the bike. I love this track, but with the MotoGP it’s very physical. This morning went well, unfortunately we didn’t manage to put in a perfect lap, but I didn’t feel too bad. This afternoon in wet I felt quite comfortable, I tried to improve lap by lap and gain confidence and it went better than I expected. It was a good first day.”

“I had a good time today. From FP1 I found the same feeling as a month ago and I immediately felt comfortable on the bike. We did two sessions in different conditions and we got a lot of information in both dry and wet conditions. The feeling is good, as always the gaps here in Austria will be minimal, which is another reason to take care of all the details. Our ideal time was really good today, a few tenths less than my best lap. Let’s keep it up.”

The MotoGP World Championship lands this weekend at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, where Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini will contest the 10th round of the calendar, the Michelin Grand Prix of Styria.

The Red Bull Ring is a circuit that Ducati has adapted to perfectly over the last few years and this season it will host two consecutive Grand Prix races. A total of 4.318 kilometres, made up of 10 corners and steep gradients make Spielberg a very distinctive track.

Bastianini and Marini are currently 16th and 20th in the overall standings respectively. Both riders, who have completed a great first half of the year of learning and adaptation, are motivated to face the weekend in Austria after the summer break.

The first free practice for the premier class of the Styrian Grand Prix will start on Friday at 9:55am.

“We are coming to Austria, a circuit I like a lot. I don’t know how it will be with MotoGP, but I’m full of energy. During the break I have tried to relax but also to stay fit, because MotoGP is a very complicated category and I would like to adapt immediately. The Ducati is a bike that is perfectly suited to this track and it has worked very well over the last few years, so we will do our best to get the best possible result.”

“I’m happy to be back racing, it’s been a long summer break. I can’t wait to get back to work and back on the bike. We arrive in Austria, a very special circuit, with few corners and which I like. Ducati has always done well here, and our goal is to get closer to the leaders and score points. We are going to run two races in a row at this circuit, and I’m sure that in the second week the gap will be even smaller, which is another reason to work well from the first GP.”

Avintia Esponsorama and Sky VR46 Avintia completed the Dutch Grand Prix race, with Bastianini finishing 15th and Luca Marini 18th.

Enea Bastianini, who started 19th, set a good pace that allowed him to move up positions and cross the finish line in the top 15. The Italian rider adds one more point, placing him in 16th position in the overall standings.

Luca Marini did not find a good pace on his Ducati Desmosedici GP19 and had to settle for 18th position in a difficult race for him. The Sky VR46 Avintia rider is currently 20th in the standings with 14 points.

With more than a month to go without racing, Avintia Esponsorama and Sky VR46 Avintia will be back in action at the Red Bull Ring from August 6th to 8th, where the Michelin Grand Prix of Styria will take place.

“It was a good race, but I spent a lot of energy, and it was hard to get to the end. In the early stages I lost some time, but when I relaxed and let go, I felt more comfortable. We didn’t have a bad race, we probably need to improve a bit to find the limit of this bike. Now we have a few weeks to rest and to train because MotoGP is very tiring, both physically and mentally.”

“Today I struggled a lot. After free practice I chose the medium tire for the race, I felt confident, but with less grip it was not the best option. Like the other Ducatis, I had a lot of movement on the bike under acceleration that I had to manage. A shame and something to work on for the next races. In FP4 I didn’t feel comfortable on the hard, but with the medium I was able to ride as I wanted. Today with the wind it was more difficult. It’s time to enjoy a few days of relaxation and we’ll get back to work in Austria. I’m looking forward to it.”

Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini will start the Motul TT Assen in 19th and 17th position respectively after having to dispute the Q1.

Both riders had a difficult session and unfortunately couldn’t finish in the top two positions that would have allowed them to access to Q2. Bastianini closed his best lap with a time of 1:33.404 and Luca Marini with a time of 1:33.321.

The points of the Motul TT Assen will be given in the race that will take place tomorrow at 14:00 at the mythical Assen track.

“It has been a difficult day. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as we expected, so we will have to work for tomorrow because there is something wrong and we have to understand why. Tomorrow I will start 19th and I will do my best to get a good result.”

“Overall it has been a good qualifying and we are doing well, we always try to make the most of our potential. We are still working in this direction, we are missing something in the fast parts, all the Ducatis are struggling, and we hope that some of them will find a modification to have more stability. We are growing, I am happy, the level is extremely high, the bikes are constantly evolving, but step by step we are there. I am very happy with the relationship with the team and I feel good.”

The Avintia Esponsorama and the Sky VR46 Avintia riders have completed the first two free practice sessions of the Motul TT Assen at ‘The Cathedral’.

Bastianini and Marini ended the first day in the Netherlands in 20th and 21st position respectively. Both riders were affected by the rain during the second free practice, which made it impossible to improve their times in the afternoon.

Tomorrow at 10:00 the third free practice of the Motul TT Assen will start, where Bastianini and Marini will have one last chance to get a position that will allow them to go directly to Q2.

“It was a good day. It’s a very tricky and demanding track for MotoGP. In the morning, the bike was moving a lot and we had to work to make some changes and I think we made a step forward between FP1 and FP2, so I’m happy. However, there is still a lot of work to do to get to where I want to be. In the afternoon it rained in the second half of the session, so it compromised FP2 a little bit, but even in the wet I had a good feeling.”

“Assen is a really difficult track with the Ducati, we all suffered a bit, but we can have fun. In FP2, due to the rain and the yellow flags at the start, we couldn’t do a lot of laps and I couldn’t set a fast lap. In general, we started quite well, we are missing something in the fast corners, but I’m sure we will solve this problem as we keep adding laps. In the rain I felt good grip and we can do well in these conditions.”

Avintia Esponsorama and Sky VR46 Avintia face a new challenge this weekend at the ‘Cathedral’ of motorcycling for the Motul TT Assen.

Enea Bastianini, who missed out on the points at Sachsenring, arrives at Assen, one of his favourite tracks. The Avintia Esponsorama rider is ready for another weekend of work with his Ducati Desmosedici GP19 to continue to get closer to the front group of the grid.

Luca Marini scored an important point in Germany after finishing 15th. The Urbino rider, who has been showing great progress since the start of the season, is optimistic and impatient for the start of the Dutch Grand Prix.

The premier class action gets underway tomorrow at 9:55am for the first free practice session of the Motul TT Assen.

“We arrive at Assen, one of my favourite circuits, where I feel quite strong and I’m looking forward to riding a MotoGP bike here. We come from a difficult weekend at Sachsenring, it was not a negative Grand Prix, but in some moments, we struggled to find our speed. I hope we can start well from Friday, to be fast in qualifying on Saturday and we will see what we can do in the race.”

“It will be exciting to race the MotoGP bike at Assen, a historic track, really fast, but also very tight. I don’t know how the Ducati will adapt, but we are growing, the team is doing well, and we will keep working to improve my feeling on the bike. The real unknown will be the weather, so let’s wait and see.”