Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP End Catalan GP Friday in P11 & P16

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team jumped into action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during the Friday sessions. Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins were pushing during the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalonia Practice, but yellow flags prohibited them from challenging in the final stages. Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins finished in P11 and P16 respectively, putting them on tomorrow's Q1 entry list.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins went straight to business at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the first day of the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalonia. Hard work allowed the teammates to make steps in the afternoon Practice, but they were denied the chance to put it to the test in the final minutes due to yellow flags. They ended up in 11th and 16th place respectively, which will have them both take part in tomorrow's Q1.

Quartararo had set out in FP1 with a special livery and purple rider number and ended the morning session in P18. It made him keen to use the 1-hour-long afternoon session to the fullest. El Diablo underlined his top-10 ambitions during his first time attack. A 1'38.602s, set on lap 23/27, put him in a temporary fourth place with seven and half minutes of the Practice remaining as the Frenchman came in for a pit stop. He was determined to put in everything he had into his final run, but continuous yellow flags in Sector 1 made it impossible for him to set a valid lap time. He wrapped up the session in 11th place, 0.461s from the top, missing out on a place in Q2 by just 0.003s.

With the Catalan GP being his home race, Rins, a Barcelona-born rider, put in diligent work. Having wrapped up the FP1 session in P16, he knew there was work to do in the Practice. After 25 minutes, he clocked a 1'39.915s for 14th in the live timing – moving up from P24. It was a first indication of the progress made by the Spaniard. But as the times dropped towards the end of the session, Rins had to put his head down again. He set a 1'38.832s on lap 19/21, just before yellow flags halted all possibility of progress. It briefly had him in P14 before being delegated to 16th position, 0.691s from first.

The teammates will be back in action for FP2 held tomorrow from 10:10-10:40 (GMT+2). The qualifying sessions will follow from 10:50-11:30, and the 12-lap Sprint will start at 15:00.