Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Conclude Spielberg Friday in P14 and P17

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After a nasty crash in Turn 6, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo put up a good fight for a top-10 position in today's Grand Prix of Austria Practice session but found himself in P14 in the end results. Álex Rins put in a late time attack and finished the Friday in Spielberg in 17th place.

Spielberg (Austria), 15th August 2025

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins were pushing on the Grand Prix of Austria Friday to make the best possible start to the second half of the 2025 MotoGP World Championship, but they narrowly missed out on a place in Q2. The teammates finished the Practice session in 14th and 17th place respectively and will take part in tomorrow's Q1.

Quartararo had wrapped up the first session after the summer break in P7. The sunny conditions continued in the afternoon, and the number-20 rider pushed right from the get-go. He led the Practice session early on with a 1'29.354s, signalling that the Frenchman was keen to compete for a spot in Q2. However, midway through he had a crash in Turn 6, causing a red flag and a sore left hip for the Yamaha man. Still, Quartararo was quickly back in the box and ready to resume proceedings when pit lane reopened. In the final 10 minutes of track time, El Diablo had to put up a fight to stay inside the top 10. His best time of 1'29.015s, set on lap 23/23, secured him 14th place, 0.898s from first.

Rins ended FP1 on a high, securing 12th position in the classification. Much like in the morning session, the Spaniard focused on working on his bike's set-up before putting in a fresh tyre for a time attack. The Spaniard found himself in 20th place after the first half of the afternoon session. He improved to a 1'29.160s early on in his time-attack endeavours, which moved him up to 15th. But the number-42 rider couldn't make further progress in the final stages. Rins' best lap, clocked on lap 21/24, put him in 17th position in the Practice classification, 1.043s off today's fastest time.

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 14-lap Sprint will start at 15:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"MotoGP is back in session again, and the team is excited to get to work – although this Friday didn't play out as we had hoped. This morning, our team made a significant step compared to last year. But here, unfortunately, the temperatures rising in the afternoon always drastically affects the level of grip, and we experienced a negative impact in our performance because of this. Fabio quickly got up to speed today, and he aimed, as always, for a direct spot in Q2. Unfortunately, a crash mid-session halted his progress. He still gave it his all during his time attack, but he missed out on the top 10 by 0.170s. Álex dedicated today's sessions to tweaking his riding style and GP approach. He made a step forward, but the gains weren’t quite enough to secure a Q2 spot. The team and also Dovi are working closely with him to fine-tune the bike's set-up and help him adjust. After collecting our riders' feedback and today's data, we will give it our all to unlock additional performance ahead of tomorrow's qualifying and the Sprint."

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"I don't know why I crashed, if it was oil or something else, but I did see the marshals put something on the track, so for sure there was something there. I'm a bit sore, but it could have been worse. It was lucky I didn't go so high. Physically I'm okay. It was difficult to understand where I could be faster. Coming from Brno, which is really grippy, there is a big difference for us here. Let's see what we can do tomorrow."

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"I'm quite satisfied with the job I did today. It's been a long time since I was so close to Fabio. With Dovi and my crew chief David, we focused really hard yesterday afternoon and today on changing my way of working and my riding style. They helped me a lot to change this. Obviously, it's not easy to change how you ride the bike after many years – it doesn't come naturally – but we are closer than we were the last races. But I don't like seeing my name in P17. Luckily the temperatures will likely go down tomorrow, which could help us. But in any case, we give it our all every time we go out on track."