Marquez increases his points lead, taking hard-fought 2nd in Austria; Pedrosa in 7th place

“Today I enjoyed the race a lot because I finished second but really gave it everything. In Brno I didn’t have enough confidence, while here, I tried. I started to push hard from the beginning as I had chosen the hard rear tyre with the target of trying to open a gap early on, because I knew that Dovi and Lorenzo would be very fast at the end of the race, when the tyres dropped. That was our strategy today and for a short while I believed I would be able to carry it out, but soon they caught me again. It was a great battle. I tried to defend, to change my lines, but it was impossible. This is a track where they’re very strong, especially on the straights. In these situations we try to manage at our best, and we also have our very competitive points; we were very strong on braking and entering the corners. For sure we will use those strengths and have our say at other tracks. So far we’ve always been right there, always on the podium, and that’s the most important thing. We lost only five points on Lorenzo and gained more on Valentino, who’s second in the standings. We’re happy with this result; we’ve done a great job here.”

“After the start, turn one was a bit messy but okay, but after a couple of corners, something happened with Smith, Rossi, Zarco, and I don’t know who else, and I went off the track, losing five or six positions. I found myself very far back in the pack. As usual, in the beginning I also struggled with the feeling and grip, so it took me some time before I was able to get into a good enough rhythm. When I felt more comfortable, I started making some passes, and the situation became better and better. This is something we need to solve because by the time I start to be fast, the race is gone.”