ALDEGUER RECOVERS TO FINISH NINTH AFTER MOTEGI ERRORS

Fermín Aldeguer salvaged a difficult Japanese Grand Prix weekend with ninth place at Motegi, finishing 23.5 seconds behind winner Marc Márquez. He was the third-best Ducati rider, behind the two factory entries, but his result came after mistakes in practice and qualifying left him starting 18th. He climbed to 10th in the sprint, just outside the points, before making the top nine in Sunday’s race.

“The race went better than the rest of the weekend,” the Gresini rider said. “We knew we had made mistakes in practice and qualifying. Starting from 18th makes it difficult to get back towards the front. We finished the race in ninth.”

Aldeguer said the leading four had a clear pace advantage, while he felt more competitive among the riders fighting for the positions behind them. “The top four’s race pace was much higher than ours. But from fifth place onwards, the riders were going at a similar speed to me. That’s good news for me.”

The Spaniard said he found it hard to produce strong lap times over the weekend, but felt more comfortable as he gained track time and switched to the harder rear tyre. “All in all, it was a difficult weekend in which we made a lot of mistakes,” he said.

Despite the setbacks, Aldeguer left Motegi encouraged by the improvement on Sunday and looking ahead to the Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika, which takes place the following weekend. He said the team had ended the race with a positive feeling for the next round, where he has good memories. Mandalika and the subsequent visit to Phillip Island are tracks where he is expected to be competitive.

“It obviously helps that we finished Motegi feeling better than when we started,” Aldeguer said. “Even if the weekend hadn’t ended so well here, I would have gone into Mandalika just as motivated.”