Marquez v Viñales
MotoGP™ qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix was lit up by a fascinating exchange between Marc Marquez and Maverick Viñales . Both found themselves in Q1 . Viñales had the speed . Marquez , due to his injuries , did not . So the eight-time world champion drew up a plan . “ I said to the team , ‘ I don ’ t feel the bike , I don ’ t feel anything , just we need to follow somebody .’ We checked the list , the fastest guy was Viñales ,” he explained .
Marquez then shadowed his countryman for the majority of the session , much to Viñales ’ chagrin , even following the Yamaha into pit lane after an aborted outlap . As the minutes ticked down , Viñales had no other option but push on . By doing so he towed his adversary around to the
Yamaha men get hands on ride-height device
session ’ s quickest time . And Viñales then messed up the following lap , meaning Marquez went through to Q2 and he didn ’ t .
The # 12 refused to be drawn into any further controversy . “ I don ’ t have any comment on that , honestly . Just we were not fast enough .” Marquez tried to justify the move . “ I met Maverick before I entered the press conference , where all the TVs are , and first of all I apologised because I know that it ’ s not completely fair , and what I said was ‘ you have a reason to be angry .’ In the end , it ’ s inside the rules . In the limit , but inside the rules and what I did was try to find the perfect situation to do my 100 % and to take the best result possible .”
Qualifying hasn ’ t been a problem for Fabio Quartararo in 2021 . But starting has . His attempts to get off the line at Mugello were boosted by the arrival of Yamaha ’ s first front holeshot device . The M1 was the only machine on the grid which didn ’ t feature the part which locks the front of the machine in place on the grid to lower the centre of gravity and thus reduce wheelie . “ I ’ m so happy , because from Qatar 1 , every time I made a great result or pole position or something , I pushed the Japanese engineers , ‘ This is the most important thing , this is the most important thing ,’” Quartararo said . “ Now we have no more excuses . Of course , we need to develop it a little bit more , because it ’ s our first test , but we are already seeing big improvements . So I ’ m super happy , and I think that we can make even better things . So I ’ m really looking forward ( for developing it ). I really want to thank Yamaha , because they worked hard , and I think they changed to a little bit , how can you say ? A new style , not so old school , but new style .”
Marquez talks ‘ transitional year ’
From the heroic comeback in Portugal in April , Marc Marquez has stressed the need for patience . But it appears the eight-time champion ’ s recovery to full fitness will be longer than expected .
The Catalan took a 600cc bike for a private test around Spanish track Circuit Mora d ’ Ebre in the lead up to the Italian Grand Prix . But it was there that issues right shoulder – not his upper arm he broke in July 2020 – became pronounced . Marquez injured the joint toward the end of 2019 , and had corrective surgery in the December of that year . “ I understood I cannot ride in a good position because if I do that then the pain in the shoulder is much more ,” he said .
Marquez revealed in France that there was some lasting nerve damage from that particular injury . And team manager Alberto Puig admitted at Mugello he could well take a step back from racing action if his situation worsened . “ We know that he is in pain . If the situation that arises anywhere indicates that it is better to stop , he will stop , obviously . If the moment came , it would be studied , but we are thinking about seeing how it evolves .”
It means the Yamaha joins Honda , Ducati , Aprilia and KTM as having both a front and rear holeshot device . Only Suzuki ’ s GSX-RR lacks the rear device .
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