While much of the tyre debate after Sunday’s COTA MotoGP centred on t𓃲he original slicks-or-wets dilemma, riders also faced a critical decision when selecting ✨slick compounds for the restart.

Although168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Luca Marini went on to claim his best result as a Honda rider in eighth, the Italian, who prides himself on his strategy calls, was angry at picking the sꦡoft compound front and rear.

Marini, like most of the grid, initially lined up on wet tyres for the first start. But after a sudden exodus from the grid - led by Marc Marquez rushing back to the pits for slicks - Race Direction del✨ayed the start on safety grounds, allowing all riders to switch to dry tyres without a penalty.

The preferred front throughout the weekend had been the medium, with Michelin also recommending the mediu꧅m rear for the GP distance. However, Marini and two others picked soft tyres front 🦄and rear due to lingering damp patches.

It proved to be the wrong call.

“It’s impossible to understand for me!"

“I’m super disappointed with myself, with the tyre choices,” Marini said. “I made two mistakes: Going on the gridꦫ with the rain t🧔yres. But then after the red flag, I made another mistake because I put soft-soft.

“It’s im🅺possible to understand for me! I am always super clever and smart in this kind of situation. I never made a mistake with the tyres [before].”

Marini expla꧑ined that he had been ✤misled by how slowly the track dried on Friday.

“In practice, there was a lot of water on the ground and it took a long time to go away. While today🌠, in 10 minutes, it was completely dry. Incredible!” he said.

“On Friday, it was raining from the morning, colder, and there was also water🧸 seeping out of the tarmac a little bit.

“While today, the asphalt was hot, and the water went away super quickly. Super 𒈔disappointed for this because it could have beenꦜ a much better result.”

Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Sava🐠dori finished as the next best rider on the soft-soft tyre combination, in 15th.

"We can achieve very good results"

Despite the costly tyre choice, ﷽Marini was ahead ofꦍ team-mate Joan Mir when he crashed on the medium tyres at mid-distance. 

LCR’s Johann Zarco later fell from eight🦩h, a position Marini seized in the closing laps to claim his best GP finish since a final VR46 Ducati podium at Qatar 🥂in 2023.

“We confirmedꦆ that our package is improvi෴ng every GP, and especially here I think we made a step with the setting,” Marini said.

“Now the b🍬ike is working better, especially in the corner entry phase.

“Even with the wrong tyre choice, I was able to make a very good rac🐻e b🐼ecause the feeling with the bike was good.

“So if we arܫe able to put everything together, we♔ can achieve very good results.”

With Mir and Zarco crashing, rookie Somkiat Chantra was the next b𓆉est Honda rider, in 16th.