The words of the Turk after the Aragon GP
September 24, 2023
Are you satisfied with how this tenth round went?
“A weekend of two faces. On the one hand I’m not satisfied because I wasn’t able to win, but on the other hand I got on the podium in all three races, and I took second place twice, which is my best result ever here at Motorland. It was another strange and unpredictable round and if I hadn’t crashed in Most perhaps the situation would be different now, but… it’s useless to think about the past”
Both Rea and Bautista were really tough opponents
“Absolutely yes. Jonny started the races very well, but then he paid the price for tire wear especially on the front, where I also had problems. Alvaro was very strong in Race2. He waited a few laps behind Locatelli to save his rear tire and then left. I tried to bring home second place, but when I saw that Rinaldi was coming I prepared to fight with him. When I realized that Locatelli’s bike was smoking I immediately tried to overtake him and only later did I see that Rinaldi was left behind and this allowed me to take second place quite easily”
Locatelli is really unfortunate
“I’m very sorry for Andrea because he was having a great race, and maybe we could have been on the podium together. We’ll try again in Portimao, a track he really likes”
Have you changed anything on the bike for today’s two races?
“We tried a different set-up which could have benefited us when exiting corners but which however penalized us on the straight. However, I cannot expect to always have a 100% bike. I have to know how to adapt to the conditions of the track and the vehicle I drive. Here in Aragon we had some problems with the engine braking, while for example in Most the bike was perfect both when braking and when cornering. Braking is my strong point, but there are some tracks where when braking the rear tire pushes on the front and I can’t ride as I would like. The important thing is to always find the right balance in the performance of our bike”
