Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Quartararo Secures Q2 Spot on Hungarian GP Friday, Rocky Start for Rins at Balaton Park

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The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team began the Grand Prix of Hungary with room for improvement. Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins wrapped up the afternoon Practice at the Balaton Park Circuit in 10th and 21st place respectively, allowing the Frenchman to get straight into tomorrow's Q2, while the Spaniard will have to take part in Q1.

Balaton Park Circuit (Hungary), 22nd August 2025

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins used the opening day of the Grand Prix of Hungary to get familiar with the 'new' Balaton Park Circuit and work through various set-ups. Quartararo made a strong comeback in the time attack of the Practice session, securing P10 and a place in Q2. Rins pushed hard but ended the afternoon in 21st position, which puts him on the entry list for Q1.

Quartararo had wrapped up FP1 in 11th place and was aiming to secure a top-10 placement in the Practice. It took the Frenchman some time to find a good feeling around the Balaton Park Circuit in the afternoon. He used most of the session to lock in a base set-up before he booked progress during the time attack. His 1'37.671s best attempt, set on lap 22/24 earned him 10th place, 0.610s from first.

Rins ended the morning free practice session in 20th place. He was determined to get in as many laps as possible during the afternoon session to get more familiar with the 'new' circuit. The Spaniard put in diligent work and moved up to eleventh place as the first time attacks rolled in. However, he was unable to defend the position. His fastest lap of 1'38.379s, clocked on lap 21/25 had him rank 21st in the classifications, 1.318s from today's best 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 13-lap Sprint will start at 15:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"We didn't have the start to the Hungarian GP that we had hoped for, with some challenges from the Austria GP continuing this Friday. Both riders didn't feel comfortable due to how the bike was behaving. Fabio and Álex were giving similar feedback. The track layout with its stop-and-go nature and slow chicanes doesn't help us either. For the afternoon Practice, we were able to improve the bike a bit, and this gave Fabio a slightly better feeling. He then delivered a strong time attack to secure direct Q2 entry. In Álex' case, I don't believe the results reflect his true pace – he was in the mid-pack for most of the Practice, but during the time attack he couldn't make the most of the new tyre for different reasons. We will analyse today's data to refine the settings, and we'll put them to the test in tomorrow's FP2."

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"It felt like qualifying out there. I was able to secure a direct place in Q2, but overall I didn't have a great feeling on the bike today. I was able to do one lap that wasn't so bad. I'm still 0.6s from P1, but at least we are inside the top 10. We'll try to make a big step tomorrow. It's a really narrow track, so this will make overtaking difficult in tomorrow's Sprint and Sunday's Race."

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"In FP1, we really struggled, but we're at a new circuit, so this is normal. In the Practice, we made a big step forward, we improved a lot, and I was able to be faster than I was in FP1. But I'm not satisfied, because my potential was to finish P11 or P12, but we didn't handle things well with the time attack tyres. We were working in a good way, but in the end we couldn't do much. Let's try to improve for tomorrow."