Moto3 Motegi Qualifying: Antonelli, Bastianini, Fenati, Bagnaia, Ferrari and Locatelli speak

Qualifying for the Moto3 class saw the Italians as protagonists with Niccolò Antonelli taking the front row, while the others were less fortunate. Here's what they said at the end of qualifying.

“We worked very well on the bike and already at the beginning of the qualifying session I felt at ease, in fact I immediately achieved a very good time, which I then repeated – said Niccolò Antonelli, second fastest – Afterwards I mounted the harder tires and I continued to maintain a good pace, with times all in 1'57”. At the end of qualifying, as always we were all at the limit and it wasn't at all easy to find the right lap in the traffic: I did it on my last attempt. We knew we had a good opportunity today and we took advantage of it! However, tomorrow the first part of the race will not be easy with a full tank, but I will give my all and if the podium is within our reach, I will fight until the end to get there!"

“This morning's crash was a very normal one, which didn't affect the result of the qualifying: the front tire was already quite worn and I wanted to push anyway, ending up falling – candid Enea Bastianini, fifteenth fastest – In reality this afternoon I won't I managed to get a good time because I didn't feel comfortable on the bike and consequently I wasn't able to ride as I would have liked. I struggle in particular in the first sector, and in general in the fast corners, where I have difficulty closing the line. However, tomorrow morning we will try to resolve these problems in view of the race."

Here is the thought of the Sky Racing Team VR46 drivers: “It was a complicated qualifying. As often happens this year, I wasn't able to find the right trail, on the other hand there was no one who made things easy for me there in traffic – said Romano Fenati seventeenth fastest – Even the drop in tires towards the fine and the chattering prevented me from pushing hard enough. It will be an uphill race, but we are ready to fight for the positions we deserve."

“We expected more significant improvements in qualifying, given that we started with two sets of new tires – added Francesco Bagnaia, eighteenth fastest – In the end we also found little free road, on the last exit I managed to set the time but it wasn't enough to reach the starting position we were looking for tomorrow. It will be a challenging race, but as always we will give it our all."

The Team Italia riders then spoke: “We didn't need this fall. I was making all the drivers parade so as not to slow them down, unfortunately, just when I was relaunching myself, Masbou and I touched at the last corner – said Matteo Ferrari, twenty-fourth fastest – There is some regret because we are quite far behind: I actually replicated the my time yesterday, a few tenths were enough to find ourselves a few rows ahead. We'll try to make up ground tomorrow, as always I'll do my best to finish this weekend well."

“We have managed to improve the overall chassis of the bike, but we are still struggling – added Andrea Locatelli, thirty-second fastest – We lack that 'inspiration' to be able to keep up with the other riders, even more so here where there are several restarts and significant accelerations. Not all weekends go well, we sometimes encounter more difficulties than usual, but tomorrow we will try to give our best to recover as many positions as possible."