It’s been a fantastic debut
season for you. You have been
incredibly strong - the best rookie
showing in many years - you have
got to be happy?
Yeah, it’s been great. The bike has very
high potential and I’ve felt it since the
beginning, so my motivation is very
high and the expectations too. At the
beginning of the season - leading the
opening race in Qatar, then achieving
the podium at my home Grand Prix in
Le Mans – yeah, it’s been better than
what I could expect or dream. But then
when I think about it, I’m just where
I want to be. It’s awesome to already
be at this level and I will work hard to
stay here.
Do you think it’s going to be
difficult to maintain that le vel?
The expectation of you has grown
massively in recent months,
originally you were not expected to
perform so highly…
It will be difficult. It’s always difficult
because you must push a lot on the
bike. You think you are on the limit,
but you have to push that bit more to
understand the next level you can go
to. Every Grand Prix is new to me and
it’s necessary to arrive at the GP in the
best form to be able to push yourself.
We have seen sometimes this year,
both you and your team mate (Jonas
Folger) look a little bit stronger than
the factory Yamaha guys throughout
the weekend. Are you on the 2016
factory Yamaha, or is it similar to
the 2017 model that Maverick and
Valentino currently race?
I want to say yeah - maybe I have a
58 | FreestyleXtreme.com
2016 bike, but the differences aren’t
huge, so when they test with the
factory, they can use us as a frame
of reference. I think we are four riders
where all the bikes are good and they
are taking the best information across
the four bikes for use in development.
Did the bike suit your riding style
from the first time you rode it or did
you have to adapt?
I had to adapt, to understand the tyres
and also this chassis. You can push it
so much! With the Moto2 bike, I also
had to change my riding style. But I’ve
even more confidence on this bike,
because if you don’t trust the bike you
cannot go fast, it’s the same on all
bikes but I feel it even more in MotoGP.
Stepping up to MotoGP, your Moto2
and 125 days hadn’t offered you any
experience of advanced electronics.
Has that been a big learning
process, or do the team make that
easy with their experience?
Actually, the electronics can help you
learn the bike quicker. Sometimes
when you are in the corner the
electronics help you to try something.
If you want to go faster, open the
throttle a little bit earlier, you can
try - because if you really make a big
mistake the electronics will control
it, so you can be bolder with your
changes. Even if you don’t have the
feeling you can try and see what
happens, on another bike without
electronic control if you go with this
mind set and try something to see
what happens then maybe you will
crash whereas with MotoGP this does
not happen thanks to the (traction)
control. u