Valencia Press Conference: the MotoGP season finale and goodbye Lorenzo
Riders gear up for the final round and share some words on a great rival set to retire
Valencia, 14 Nov 2019: After 18 rounds of incredible racing in 2019, it’s time for the Circuit Ricardo Tormo to host the season finale. The pre-event Press Conference for the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana saw reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) joined by Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) to talk shop – and share a few words on rival Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team), who announced his retirement earlier in the day.
Marquez was first to speak. “Malaysia was not the best weekend for us but in the end we achieved a good result in the race which is the most important thing, we finished in second. At Valencia we will see, it’s time to finish the season in a good way, work hard next week for 2020, and there’s the team Championship where we’ll fight against Andrea and Danilo, and apart from that just try to enjoy it, the last race weekend and a home GP. Last weekend in my hometown in Cervera was amazing with my brother too, and I’ll just try to enjoy this, no pressure.”
Next up was Dovizioso, who also spoke of 2020… “We really would like to finish the season in a good way, we’ve confirmed a strong second overall, it’s not the Championship but we have to be happy with it. For sure we’ll have something to try at the test, and for sure we have to improve our situation if we want to fight with Marc so we’ll be focused on that.”
Then, Sepang winner Viñales talked through his recent form and geared up for Valencia. “I am really happy about the end of the season because somehow I felt we’ve grown a lot, especially with the team, and also with the bike and that was the most important; that was the objective of the last races: trying to going up and up with the bike, and it’s what we did. So, we arrive here in Valencia with the same mentality. I will go for everything. I will try to push myself and the bike at the maximum and then we will see, but I will give my maximum as always.”
Rins was next on the mic, and he’s facing down Viñales for third overall. “We have really good memories here in Valencia, last year in the rain but also in my first year I finished fourth here. So let’s see what happens, for sure I’ll try to fight, I don’t want to be focused on the final position overall, the important thing is that we’re getting information and experience for next year, so let’s see what happens. I’ll try and start tomorrow at 100%.”
After the Spaniard, the ‘Doctor’. Rossi has had ups and downs at Valencia, but he definitely arrives on the up after an incredible battle with Dovizioso for the podium in Malaysia. He missed out, but it was close… “We arrive from a good weekend in Sepang, so we have to try and continue like this. Valencia is completely different: the track, the temperature and the conditions are the opposite. It will be interesting to understand our speed and try and be competitive all weekend – and be strong on Sunday.”
Finally, we had chance to hear from Franco Morbidelli after he came home top Independent at Sepang. And it’s his first race on the Yamaha at Valencia. “In Japan and Malaysia I thought we had the speed to fight for the podium and we really don’t know why but in the race I struggled, I started to struggle a lot generally with lack of speed. So here in Valencia will be another important occasion to have good practices and try and have a good weekend until the race – and then try and maintain the practice speed on Sunday.”
Sunday sees the curtain go up for the final premier class race of the season at 14:00 (GMT +1) local time, with the Team Championship, third overall and top Independent Team rider still up for grabs – alongside another 25 points and a goodbye from Jorge Lorenzo. Don’t miss it.
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