Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Quartararo and Morbidelli Show Persistence in San Marino GP Sprint

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Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo was multitasking in this afternoon’s Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Sprint. He was simultaneously piling on the pressure on the rivals ahead of him and defending his position to ultimately earn 13th place in the Sprint results. After a mishap at the start, Franco Morbidelli recovered to 16th place. However, he was handed a long-lap penalty which he failed to complete. It resulted in him getting a 3-second penalty that saw him rank 18th in the classifications.

Misano Adriatico (Italy), 9th September 2023

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team’s Fabio Quartararo was piling on the pressure in the 13-lap Sprint at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. He ultimately secured 13th place in the rankings. Franco Morbidelli showed how much the Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini means to him when he pushed from last place in Turn 1 to 16th place at the finish line. However, failing to complete a long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits earned him a 3-second penalty, putting him in 18th place in the Sprint classifications.

Quartararo started the Sprint from P13. He carefully negotiated the opening corners as he found himself in the middle of the pack. He ultimately settled in 14th place. The Frenchman was managing his tyres whilst putting pressure on the rivals ahead of him. He was riding in a group consisting of four riders and fighting for 12th place, all the while defending his own position. The number-20 rider was looking for an opening, but ultimately finished in 14th place, 14.243s from first. However, Johann Zarco later had to drop a position due to exceeding track limits on the last lap, handing 13th place to Quartararo.

Morbidelli was left standing in P19 on the starting grid when the lights went out and lost significant ground. He was in last place as the rider field cleared off ahead of him, but the home rider was quick to close the gap and started to pick up positions. By lap 4 he was already in 18th place and he was far from done. Making the most of his knowledge of the Misano track as well as his Yamaha’s agility, he went on to snatch two more positions. But once in 16th place, he was handed a long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits. As Morbidelli failed to comply with the penalty and finished in 16th place, 16.749s from first, he was handed a 3s penalty. It put him in 18th place in the classifications.

Today’s results see Quartararo remain in 11th in the overall standings with 82 points. Morbidelli likewise stays in 12th place with 67 points. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team keep their 6th place in the team championship with 149 points, and Yamaha stays 4th in the constructor’s championship with 102 points.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP will be back in action tomorrow at 09:40-09:50 GMT +2 for Warm Up, followed by the Race, which starts at 14:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director

We did a lot of work today. Starting in FP2, we tried to find an improvement to help our riders in qualifying, but it wasn’t enough for them to get into Q2. Consequently, they were lining up in P13 and P19 on the grid for the Sprint this afternoon. We knew it would be difficult to get the results we wanted. Fabio wasn’t really able to make overtakes whilst riding in the midfield, so we need to find a solution for tomorrow’s Race. It was a shame that Franky had a problem at the start, because he was riding well after that and doing a lot of overtakes. However, he was handed a long-lap penalty. He didn’t complete it, so he got a 3s penalty. We know he wants to do well here in San Marino since it’s his home GP, so we will take today’s data to make some tweaks for tomorrow. It will be a long and hot Race, but it will be good for collecting data, also with Monday’s Misano Test in mind.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

The feeling with the bike is the same as this morning and the same as it was yesterday. I struggled to overtake. It’s really tough, so we have to make a massive step on Monday if we want to get back to fighting for ‘normal’ positions. My pace is really good. I was much faster but not able to pass. This is the main problem and hopefully something we can address during the Misano Test.

Franco Morbidelli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

I had a problem at the start: I couldn’t engage first gear. I then finally engaged it, but I went back to neutral because I didn't know which gear I had. So, I was in neutral and didn’t move, and I was lucky that nobody hit me. Then I finally was able to put it in first gear and started the Sprint, and the pace was not so bad. I was able to recover some positions, but anyway the pace is still off. We will try to make steps for tomorrow.