Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Battle Through Balaton Sprint
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins started today's Grand Prix of Hungary Sprint from P15 and P20 respectively and finished the 13-lap contest in P17 and P21.
GRAND PRIX OF HUNGARY
SPRINT
Balatonfőkajár (Hungary), 6th June 2026
17th
F. Quartararo +17.070 / 13 LAPS
21st
Á. Rins +24.063 / 13 LAPS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins were prepared for a challenging Grand Prix of Hungary Sprint. Having qualified in P15 and P20 respectively, the teammates ultimately wrapped up the 13-lap dash in P17 and P21.
Quartararo started from P15 and held his position on his opening lap before gradually dropping to P18. The Frenchman kept pushing though, and he overtook Iker Lecuona on lap 8. He held P17 across the finish line with a 17.070s gap to first.
Rins commenced from P20 and gained three places in the opening stages. However, the Spaniard was unable to keep hold of the ground he had gained. He was relegated to P21 by lap 5. It became a lonely ride for the Spaniard, who held the position to the chequered flag, 24.063s from the winner.
After today's Sprint Quartararo is in 15th place in the championship standings with 37 points and Rins stays in 19th with 9 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are in joint 9th position in the team classification with 46 points, and Yamaha is 5th in the constructor rankings with 41 points.
The team will be back in action tomorrow for Warm Up, held from 09:40-09:50 (GMT+2), and the 26-lap Race, which starts at 14:00.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
"We arrived at Balaton with the aim to understand how our bike performs at this circuit. Although last year was challenging, we didn't expect to face this level of difficulty. It has been a very tough qualifying and Sprint for us today. Starting from P15 and P20, we knew it would be an uphill battle, and the low-grip conditions at the start of the race didn't help us either. Unfortunately, we weren't able to make the progress we had hoped for over the 13 laps. We are anticipating another demanding race tomorrow, but we will stay focused, analyse everything carefully, and keep pushing to extract the maximum from our package."
FABIO QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
"I was trying to play with the limit in qualifying and sometimes that doesn't work out, like in Turn 14. Without good grip here, I'm making a lot of mistakes, and also the front grip is not great here, which I didn't expect. So, I'm just trying to do my best."
ÁLEX RINS Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
"This morning we found something on the set-up. It didn't fix all the problems that we have, but it allowed me to put the bike wherever I wanted. That said, the Sprint was tough for me because I had to deal with some vibrations. I was trying to understand how to get rid of it, but I couldn't succeed. For sure, the team will investigate what caused it and then let's see what we can do tomorrow."
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director