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Bagnaia, Marquez and Martin: the 3 most in-form riders are in the top 3 positions in Misano as well. It was to be expected because they are the ones who are making all the difference on the bike and the stopwatch can only prove them right.
"We are the best placed, not only in the one lap but also in pace - Jorge confirmed - Marc has been fast since Friday for so many races now and will be until the end of the year. As for Pecco, we are at Misano and I expected him to be fast. I thought he would struggle maybe a little bit more with the soft, as happened to me, but he was quick."
In fact, the only surprise for the Pramac rider was his difficulties in making the most of the softer tyre. "My day went very well in the morning, I felt incredibly good, I couldn't believe how fast I was. Everything was perfect, that doesn't happen often."
In the afternoon, however, things got complicated.
"I didn't touch the bike, but in the afternoon, with the soft tire, I started having trouble stopping the bike," he explains, "I had difficulty in being consistent, the rear was pushing on the front and I was in danger of crashing. We started changing a lot of things and each time I was improving. In the end I managed to lap in 1'31"5 with a tire that had 18 laps on it. It was good, but I don't have a lot of confidence in the rear soft tire, I feel much better with the medium and I will have to figure out which one is better for the two races."
He then went into more detail.
"When I brake I have a hard time sliding the rear, it regains grip and pushes a lot, especially in the first corner, in turn 8, in turn 10. I can't stop and I risk crashing. It's complicated, we've made some changes in the right direction, trying to decrease the grip, for example using stiffer springs for the monoshock, but for me it's not very nice to ride like that," Jorge lamented.
Now, however, his way of dealing with difficulties seems different than in the past. Martin is a more mature rider who seems to have learned from his mistakes.
"I'm more relaxed, I focus a lot on what I can control or what I can do to improve," he said, "In the end, thinking that I'm ahead by 20 points or that I'm behind doesn't help. I have to always render 100 percent no matter what, I accept this situation and feel relaxed, although I don't know if I can maintain it when I fight for the championship. I hope I will still be better than I was a year ago. The important thing is always to improve, I think this year communication with the team has improved, we have a lot of confidence. Do I feel lonely? No, my bike is running perfectly and I don't think Ducati will do anything to stop me from doing anything."
The next goal is qualifying.
"In the one lap you always give something more, today I made a couple of mistakes, but I think tomorrow we will beat the track record because the grip is incredible," was his prediction.
And everyone knows how Jorge exults when it comes to fighting against the stopwatch.
"Logically you have to have things under control, otherwise you kill yourself. But you reason corner by corner, you go into one and you don't know if you're going to get out of it, you give 100 percent. It's a physical effort, but mostly mental because you have to have a lot of concentration, there's nothing that can distract you," he described his feelings.
