Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) had another solid ride in Jerez, coming home eighth and scoring another good haul of points to keep his 100% record rolling. The German rookie was satisfied with his pace in the latter stages of the race, but feels he needs to improve his starts:
Jonas Folger: "I am pleased with the result and we collected some important points for the championship. I still need to keep improving, but especially on the opening lap. I made too many mistakes when we got going, but in the race, when the tyres dropped, my pace was similar to Maverick and Johann and I made up a lot of ground. This seems to be the case so far in my rookie season, but I need to work on myself and analyse the Grand Prix to see what I can do differently so that I don’t lose as many positions in the first five or six laps. It was my fourth point scoring finish this year, which I am happy about, and I hope to make a step up at the next round."
Before that next round, Folger also had a positive Jerez test - finding some key improvements looking ahead to his team's home race and happy with the new Michelin front tyre the manufacturer brought to the test. He was P14 with a 1:39.797 after 39 laps.
JF94: “We achieved some solid results and improved in several key areas so we are all really happy. It was a hot day, and the conditions were similar to when we raced which was great because we could directly compare what we found. We tried to find a better balance in order to use the front tyre more effectively and we also worked to find additional traction on the rear, which meant that I had to adjust how I ride the bike. I can exit the corner well so I experimented with changing my riding style to get more grip and I tried a different method which was entering the corner faster and exiting slower. This will be useful when the tyres and the traction start to drop in a race. It took us a while to get the feeling and we had to adjust the bike a bit, but we found our way and the results were positive and valuable for the future. With regards to the new tyre, it’s a very good step, and I have heard good things from the Yamaha riders. I was impressed by the tyre itself, which was really stable, especially during braking and I gained a lot of confidence with it. We made some important steps forward so all in all we are very happy and I look forward to the next race at Le Mans."