Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

Fabio Quartararo Secures P5 Sprint Result in Front of Home Crowd as Álex Rins Recovers to P13

A perfectly sunny Le Mans Bugatti Circuit on the Grand Prix of France Saturday promised an exciting 13-lap Sprint battle. Fabio Quartararo impressed his home fans by staunchly defending P5 all the way to the chequered flag. Álex Rins lost ground in the opening lap, falling back to P20, but through some on-track battles as well as the misfortunes of rivals, he was back up to P13 when he crossed the finish line.

GRAND PRIX OF FRANCE

SPRINT

Le Mans (France), 9th May 2026

5th

F. Quartararo
+4.402 / 13 LAPS

13th

Á. Rins
+15.413 / 13 LAPS

Today Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo delighted his home fans by showing some strong race craft around the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit to take P5 in the Grand Prix of France Sprint. Álex Rins had his work cut out for him after a tough opening lap, but he showed perseverance and wrapped up the 13-lap dash in P13.

Quartararo launched from P6 and quickly moved up to fourth. El Diablo was able to keep Marc Marquez at bay but came under pressure from Pedro Acosta on lap 4 and was relegated one position. Later on, a charging Joan Mir fancied his chances, but the number 20 kept the door firmly shut. Quartararo finished in fifth place, 4.402s from first.

Rins commenced the Sprint from P12 but fell back to P20 on the opening lap because of an issue with the clutch, though he was soon in P17 due to misfortunes of others. The number 42 then overtook the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP teammates to take P15 on lap 8. With an over 1.2s gap to bridge to the rider ahead of him at that time, he concentrated on defending his position. Due to two late crashers, he crossed the finish line in 13th place, 15.413s from the winner.

Today's results see Quartararo in 16th place in the championship standings with 16 points. Rins is in 19th with 3 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are in 10th position in the team classifications with 19 points, and Yamaha is fifth in the constructor rankings with 19 points.

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back in action on Sunday for Warm Up, held from 09:40-09:50 (GMT+2), and the 27-lap Race, which starts at 14:00.

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MASSIMO MEREGALLI
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

"Overall, today has been pretty positive for us, especially for Fabio. He was fastest in FP2 and managed to get through Q1 to take P6 in Q2. In the Race he did well too: a good start and defensive riding later on earned him P5, which is not only a boost for our team but also greatly appreciated by his passionate fans here in Le Mans. On the other hand, Álex didn't quite have the same feeling he had yesterday during qualifying – which is a shame – and had a less than perfect opening lap in the Sprint due to an issue with the clutch. This relegated him towards the back of the pack. Ultimately, he recovered to P13, but we know he is keen for a do-over tomorrow. As the weather forecast isn't looking particularly favourable for tomorrow's race, anything will be possible."

FABIO QUARTARARO
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"I tried my best on every single lap. We knew that our pace was pretty strong because this morning I felt good, but we also know that during the race it's always a bit different than in a free practice session, with more bikes close together. I made a great first lap in the Sprint, and we achieved a great result, and I'm super happy with how we turned our situation around from Friday to Saturday. I had the same great feeling that I had at the Jerez Test. We need to keep going like this."

ÁLEX RINS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"Overall, it was quite a bad day for me. I struggled a lot in quali with the rear tyre. For me, riding with the soft in the Sprint was the right choice, but the tricky thing was the start. When I released the clutch, the engagement was rough, and this caused a wheelie. Then the RPM dropped, and I fell back to last position. Later I was able to fight a bit with Jack and Toprak. Tomorrow we have a new opportunity. It looks like we will have to deal with really bad weather, so let's see what we will be able to do."