Mixed Mugello Friday for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

09-06-2023

Mixed Mugello Friday for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP started the Gran Premio d'Italia with high motivation, and it resulted in a double top-10 ranking in P1. But the lap times were close in P2, and multiple yellow flags meant riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Mobidelli were not able to set the fast laps they had in mind. They finished the Friday at the Mugello Circuit in 15th and 16th place respectively in the combined timesheets.

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team are putting in hard work at the Gran Premio d'Italia. As it is their home round, they were keen to get good results early on at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello this weekend. Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli secured top-10 places in P1 but were unable to repeat their results in P2. They ended 15th and 16th respectively in the combined Friday timesheets, putting them in Q1 tomorrow.

Quartararo was riding with a new helmet, and its fiery design was a good representation of the drive inside the Frenchman to make solid steps this weekend. In the morning session, he featured inside the top 10 before the first shoot-out in the final stages. The Frenchman clocked a 1’46.208s on lap 16/18 that put him in provisional first place. Unable to better his time on his final laps, El Diablo finished the morning in second place, 0.087s from first.

The number-20 rider started the afternoon session in high spirits, but he didn’t find the improvement he was looking for. He put in two time attacks, but some mistakes and several yellow flags kept him from climbing up the rankings. His 1’46.304s set on lap 20/24 saw him finish P2 in 16th place, 0.868s off the fastest time. His quicker morning time earned him 15th position in the combined rankings, 0.772s from the top.

Morbidelli was keen to make a strong start to his home GP. He went to work getting the setting just right for the beautiful but challenging Mugello circuit. With ten minutes to go, the local hero returned to the pits, as every other rider, to fit some fresh tyres for putting in a time attack. He pushed to set a 1’46.400s on lap 16/16 to take seventh place, 0.279s off the fastest time.

Morbido felt that he would be able to make a good progress in the afternoon, but P2 didn’t play out as he had hoped. However, despite finding himself on track at the wrong time, he was still able to find an improvement. His 1’46.238s, set on lap 22/22, put him in 15th in the P2 results, 0.802s from today's best time and in 16th in the overall Friday classifications.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"We didn’t change anything, so we have to see why I couldn’t improve in the afternoon with two time attacks. In the first one, I had a yellow flag, and I also made some mistakes. In the second one, I had another yellow flag and a mistake from my side. So, we have to analyse and see what we can do. I have to see what I need to change in my riding style and try to improve for tomorrow. I felt pretty good. I think we are about fourth, fifth, or sixth in terms of pace. We have to make small steps to improve the front feeling and rear grip - mainly those two things."

Franco Morbidelli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"We are a further back than we want to be. Sincerely, today we would have hoped for a direct Q2. A 1'45.8s was an achievable goal, I think. But we didn't go on track in the right moment and therefore we lost some tenths along the way that are crucial here in this field. Our race pace is always decent and interesting, but it's difficult when we start from further down the grid."

Massimo Meregalli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director

"Clearly, we have work to do. We couldn’t have foreseen today’s results in the combined standings after the positive start to the GP weekend in P1. Both riders were feeling good, so we were feeling optimistic, but in the hotter temperatures in afternoon we didn’t improve as much as we wanted. Though some of it was also due to the yellow flags. Regardless, being outside the top 10 means we have to dig even deeper tomorrow morning."