Qualifying for the Grand Prix of the Americas gave a welcome surprise with Luca Marini’s ninth time. The Ducati rider was experiencing a complicated moment, in which he was seeing his boxing mate Enea Bastianini progress and even reach the podium at Misano, while he was struggling in the rear.
However, the turning point came precisely in Misano, because in the two days of testing that took place after the Grand Prix he had the opportunity to work with the Ducati technicians both on ergonomics and on the set-up of his Desmosedici GP and the fruits were seen today in Austin, with a third row qualifying.
“The weekend started in the best way. In the Misano tests we did a great job in terms of ergonomics and set-up of the bike. So here I was able to concentrate only on the riding and the tires. This morning we made some mistakes. , also in terms of strategy, but in FP4 I felt good and then in qualifying I did two laps beyond expectations, so I am proud of what we have achieved today “, said the Sky VR46 rider Avintia.
The work in the tests has certainly paid off, even if in a sense Marini would have expected to be able to do better in Texas than the last two tracks on which he raced the World Championship.
“I expected it to be slow at Misano and Aragon, because I’ve always gone wrong there. Last year we had my bike perfectly set up, so I was able to do what I wanted, but I’m not in this situation with the Ducati yet. . In these first races I realized that maybe I am a bit faster than the others to adapt to the more complicated tracks, with little grip, in fact I was also fast in Portimao. Instead on the tracks that everyone knows well, where there is a lot of grip, I have less room to work on “.
His brother Valentino Rossi underlined how Luca’s real potential is this and not what he had shown up to now in MotoGP. The person concerned, however, is convinced that he still has to show it in the premier class.
“I don’t think I have demonstrated my potential yet. I will be able to do it in the future, when everything is at the top and I can think about winning. We are about twenty riders, the best in the world and if we are here there is a reason. One rider MotoGP so he must be able to win if he has the chance to do so. “
However, this does not mean that his Ducati is not up to par, despite being an old GP19. Indeed, Marini believes that this season has been very important for his and the team’s growth and believes that he will be able to reap the benefits in 2022. If it is possible even sooner, so much the better.
“Even if it’s from 2019, our bike is scary. In the end, it’s the rider who rides the bike and I think we can do great things with our bike. The support from Ducati was there and, even if there was they were difficult moments, I think it was a positive season. I learned many things and this is more important than achieving some results without knowing why it came and without being able to repeat it. My working method has always been this and in the past I it helped. This year it was all new, the category, the bike, the team. We had to learn a lot and we made mistakes. But we are working to finish the season in the best possible way. “
From his view, Luca was able to get a closer look at the pole position of Pecco Bagnaia, who preceded him on the track, then he was asked if he managed to steal any secrets from his brand mate.
“I was a little too far from Pecco to take a good look at him. He does some incredible braking anyway and that’s where he makes the difference. I still have to find the right compromise on the bike to pull off like him. I saw that he makes the difference in the race. T2: at turn 10 it seems that he closes his eyes and keeps the throttle open, but also at turn 11 it makes an impression. But I haven’t seen the data yet, from which maybe I will be able to understand something else “.
Thinking about tomorrow’s race, he knows it will not be easy, because the problem of the depressions in the asphalt from the inside is worse than it might seem from the outside. It is already from the outside that the situation really seems to be on the verge of practicable.
“Being in the saddle is even worse. The conditions are terrible, but they are the same for everyone. We will go slower in the race, it is the only thing we can do, and there will be more difference with the times that we could do in normal conditions. Yesterday someone had also asked to reduce the number of laps, but I do not think it will be done in the end. Now we hope that everything goes smoothly this weekend, then we will think about next year. However we know that Ezpeleta is talking to the racetrack to have some improvements, because it is really difficult to race “.
Luca Marini, Esponsorama Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images