Quartararo Sprints to Sensational Second Place on Monster Energy Catalan GP Saturday

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team were loudly cheering on Fabio Quartararo during his superb ride in the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalonia Sprint. Some determined overtakes by the Frenchman in the opening laps were rewarded in the end with a second place, his best Sprint result to date. Álex Rins competed at the busy tail-end of the pack but avoided all chaos to ride to P15 at the finish line.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo flexed his muscles during today's Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalonia Sprint. He followed up his P2 qualifying result with some serious early race performance. It put the Frenchman in podium contention, and a faultless race by him cemented his best Sprint result to date: second place. Álex Rins had to come from P20 on the grid, and his perseverance paid off. He ended the Sprint in P15.

Quartararo started from P2 and pulled off some heroic moves to fight off Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta in the opening corners. He managed to defend his position over the first lap, battling hard, but he was overtaken by rivals on the start-finish straight. The Yamaha rider again used the nimbleness of the M1 in Turn 1 to sneak back past Acosta for third place. The order settled, and soon El Diablo had shaken off his pursuers whilst chasing the two Marquez brothers. When Alex Marquez crashed out with 4 laps to go, Quartararo moved up to second place. He kept his head cool and brought it home, finishing 1.299s from the winner.

Starting the Sprint from P20, Rins lost some ground in the opening stages. He initially fell back to 23rd but soon climbed up to 21st, passing Somkiat Chantra and Lorenzo Savadori on lap 2 of the 12-lap contest. The number-42 rider was riding behind Francesco Bagnaia and looking to inch close enough to find a way through. However, he instead was overtaken by Aleix Espargaró. Then sudden chaos, with Franco Morbidelli taking out Jorge Martin, Fermin Aldeguer taking out Marco Bezzecchi, and Alex Marquez crashing out of the lead, moved Rins up to 16th. The Yamaha man had something left in the tank for the final stages and got his revenge on Aleix Espargaró, snatching back P15 on the last lap. He held on to it all the way to the chequered flag, taking it 15.936s from first.

After today's results, Quartararo is now in 9th place in the overall standings with 118 points, and Rins holds 19th position with 45 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 6th in the team championship with 163 points, and Yamaha remain in 5th position in the constructor championship with 149 points.

On the Catalan GP Sunday, the teammates will start the track action with the Warm Up held from 09:40-09:50 (GMT+2), followed by the 24-lap Race starting at 14:00.