Maverick Viñales demonstrated improvement compared with the sprint race on Saturday, where he was unable to express his full potential. After an uneventful start, the Spanish rider spent several laps behind his teammate, managing to overtake him after the mid-race point to finish seventh.
The good sensations Aleix Espargaró experienced on Saturday, in qualifying and with the podium finish in the sprint race, were not confirmed during the long race. After losing a few positions at the race start, the Spanish rider had to settle for a ninth-place finish.
Lorenzo Savadori, racing in a wild card spot, continued his work developing the RS-GP, finishing twentieth and taking important data to the factory in Noale for the future.
MAVERICK VIÑALES
“It was a defensive race. I tried to squeeze out as much as possible. On this circuit, in particular, I struggle with braking. It was hard to stop the bike. To be honest, I think it is a good result and I earned important points anyway. There are some areas where the bike was very strong and we know that there are things we need to improve, like braking.”
ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
“From the start of the race I had complications with braking. Being inside the scrum, the temperature rose and consequently had an impact on braking efficiency, it is something we need to work on. We were expecting a complicated weekend, but we were still competitive. We’re taking home a fourth spot on the grid, a podium in the sprint race, and some important points in the long race.”
LORENZO SAVADORI
“All told, it was a positive weekend where we found some interesting aspects for the future. In the race, I had to test some upgrades that still need more kilometres to be fully assessed, but if it hadn’t been for that, my race pace was not bad and I would have been able to battle for points. This track has confirmed its status as a difficult one for us, where we’ll have to continue working, especially in conditions of high tyre wear, low grip, significant deceleration sections, and acceleration from low speeds. These are all areas we are focusing on currently and in view of the 2025 bike.”
MASSIMO RIVOLA
“We confirmed once again that we are competitive in qualifying and in the sprint race. Unfortunately, yet again in the long race, when the distance increases, tyre degradation arrives and we lose competitiveness. We knew that this was not one of the most favorable tracks for our bike, but we also encountered some excessive temperature issues. We certainly collected some important data to analyse in order to improve. All we can do is keep working, because the gap behind the others in the race is unacceptable.”
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