MotoGP, Marini: "Compared to the others, I lacked a run as well as grip."

We left him in 10th position in Lusail and found him at the end of the first day in Jerez much further back and with some more worries, even if the ranking, at least according to him, aren't factual. We're talking about Luca Marini, who ended his Free Practice 1 in 16th place and Pre-Qualifying in 18th, but with a confident look towards the weekend ahead.

"It was too bad about the yellow flags related to the falls, but that's part of the game," he said. "This morning, I struggled with the set-up and electronics. We were able to fix it later, and I made progress. This despite, compared to the others, I missed a run, another attempt. But, overall, we did well and the sensation was good. Tomorrow we'll try to take another step forward. I expect a complicated Q1 because there's Ogura who's very fast, but also Binder, Miller, Bezzecchi, and Rins. However, the fact that there are no Ducatis is important."

Viñales pointed out that the Ducatis in Spain are facilitated by the many sequence of corners. "I don't think that's their only strength. That said, the RC213V works everywhere," he argued. "In Qatar, we did well and, even here, we're not bad. Our Achilles heel is always grip. There's usually no shortage of it here, but we're struggling the same, even with new tires, on entring, exiting, and braking. Particulariy, we can't get the rear one to work well. But, overall, my Honda responds well in the slow corners, like in the fast ones, although I prefer it in these latter since, in the former, we're not perfect and, because of the poor grip, it tends to slip."

Finally, when asked about vibrations, the rider from the Marche region replied: "For the moment, no problem, but it's never on Friday, from this point of view, since it's a defect that occurs in the Sprint Race."