Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Search for Set-Up Improvements on British GP Friday

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The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team were happy to be back in action today at the Silverstone circuit but didn’t get the results they had hoped for. Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli, although keen to impress at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix, just missed out on securing direct places in tomorrow’s Q2, finishing this afternoon’s Practice in 11th and 12th place respectively.

Silverstone (UK), 4th August 2023

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team kicked off the second half of the 2023 MotoGP season today at the Silverstone circuit. Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli were pushing hard in the final stages of this afternoon’s Practice, but narrowly missed out on securing a place in tomorrow’s Q2, finishing the session in 11th and 12th place respectively.

Quartararo has high hopes for the Monster Energy British Grand Prix, which shares its title sponsor with the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. He used this morning’s 45-minute long Free Practice 1 to get back into the groove, but he struggled in this afternoon’s 60-minute Practice session to breach inside the top 10 during the final time attack. He came close with his best attempt, a 1’59.425s set on lap 21/21, that put him in 11th place. He missed out on a place in Q2 by 0.127s but is determined to do well in tomorrow’s Q1.

Morbidelli suffered a crash on soft tyres in the cooler FP1, but it didn’t slow him down. He still secured a top-7 result, keeping his confidence level up for this afternoon’s Practice, which is now the sole session counting towards Q2. The Italian continued to push and spent a good amount of time featuring high up in the live timing. However, the pace quickened in the final ten minutes. The number-21 rider responded by improving his time as well. He posted a 1.59.454s on his 20th and final lap, but it didn’t get him a place inside the top 10. He ended the session in 12th position, 0.156s short off his goal.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director

It’s a good feeling to be back at the track, but we did hope for a better result on this Friday. Fabio wasn’t feeling great on the bike, so we have work to do there. Despite a small crash in FP1, Franky, on the other hand, was feeling pretty good. He was high up the rankings in this afternoon’s Practice for most of the session. But for both our riders the time attack didn’t go as planned, so they ended up in 11th and 12th place. It’s a disappointing start, but we still have time to rectify the situation. We will use tomorrow’s FP2 to find further improvements, and we feel confident that we can get through Q1 to enter Q2 if it stays dry. If it rains, we will all be in the same scenario: everybody will work as fast as possible to find a solid set-up for wet conditions, so that will be an interesting spectacle for the fans.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

Of course, this was not how I wanted to end my day. We will have to work to figure out what we need to improve. This is a track where it’s difficult to test a fairing, so we will have another chance in Austria. I tried it this morning, but I don't think we will use it again in this GP because down force is not something we really need here. Of course, in Austria we will use it, and I think maybe there it will be especially positive for us. I didn’t find the wind the biggest issue today. I was more concerned with finding grip, and I’m struggling in the last sector. I can’t lean like I want, so we have to figure out why that is and what we have to do for tomorrow.

Franco Morbidelli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

It was a tricky day. It was pretty cold, and with hard tyres, it’s tricky. But anyway, we managed to get some work done for Sunday’s race. It seems like it’s going to rain tomorrow, so today was really important to understand the dry tyres and get some work done on them, and we did it. That’s positive. The pace is not so bad, but unfortunately we were not able to get into Q2. I had to slow down during a hot lap and then the tyre got a bit too cold. I couldn’t do anything more on that lap. Anyway, we will try to do a good job tomorrow.