Ninth to the checkered flag in the French GP Lorenzo Savadori is Aprilia's smiling face this weekend. Despite the critical issues presented by the race, the Emilian rider was able to stay sharp and bring home a morale-boosting result.
"It was a good race, but long and with a lot of tyre drop. It's too bad because without that problem I could have finished a little further ahead, however some interesting things emerged. I want to thank Aprilia and the racing department because we are working hard to improve the bike and to get in the top 9 is positive, so we are happy. I also want to dedicate this result to Fabrizio Borra who passed away. He was my physiotherapist. We had known each other forever and I knew his children and family well. We saw each other recently because I always trust them," he said.
Used to being a test rider, Jorge Martin's replacement faced an eventful GP. "The start was chaotic. I lined up with slicks, then we put on the hard front, it started raining, and since it wasn't standing water, I went back in to put on the rain tyres. During the red flag the intensity dropped and I went out with the dry ones. After a few laps I saw that there were only a few of us with that choice. They called me to the box and at that moment it started to pour and with the rain tyres I picked up the pace and managed to catch up with those in front of me, but then there was a lot of wear and tear and we'll have to figure out why - he recounted - Luckily there was the pit board, as in situations like that you are super focused and understand little. When I saw that I was in the top 10 it was good. Too bad about the high wear at the finish and for losing some time at the bike change because I got caught up in the wings."
Bitter and disappointed, teammate Marco Bezzecchi instead begrudgingly welcomed a meager 14th place that he hoped could have been something else.
"It was a sh** race. If I could change one thing, what would I change? I don't know, because it was the classic GP in which you can go all wrong or all right as happened to Zarco who changed bikes because they took him out at Turn 1. For the tyre choice I looked at Miller who is usually strong in these situations and instead we both made a mistake, then when I got on the dry bike I crashed and went back in to get the wet one. I would have preferred not to end up on the ground and lose time, but I don't think it would have changed much for me," he commented.
"Was it the first chance to ride in the wet? Actually already in Austin there was bad weather, but then I had problems and I could hardly ride. Anyway, the feeling is good. We just have to understand why with heavy rain we don't have traction and grip at the rear even on entry," he added, " Maybe the medium was not the winning option. At the beginning there wasn't much water and given how the warm up went and how much I had suffered with the soft, it seemed like the right idea, but instead I didn't guess anything. I'm disappointed, but that's the way it went."