Following the double podium in Assen and the four-week summer break, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team are fully recharged and eager to get back to action, starting with the Michelin Grand Prix of Styria, the first of two back-to-back rounds held at the Spielberg circuit.
Fabio Quartararo had a joyful summer break, filled with family, friends, and working out. However, five weeks without MotoGP proved a tough challenge for the Frenchman. He is incredibly keen to get back to riding his bike.
He enters the second half of the 2021 MotoGP season as the championship leader, with a 34 points advantage over his closest rival. Having scored four wins and two third places so far this year, he is planning to hold on to his strong form and fight for the podium at the Spielberg track.
Whilst the Austrian circuit traditionally doesn‘t play into the Yamaha‘s strengths, El Diablo scored a third place there on his YZR-M1 in 2019. He will focus on getting in the mix for top positions again throughout the upcoming weekend.
Maverick Viñales arrives in Austria both well rested and fully fit. He spent the summer break with his family and loved ones, but never took time off from his full-on training schedule.
After the rewarding second place podium in Assen last time round, he has successfully maintained sixth place in the overall standings. He is 61 points from first, but only has a 5 and a 6-point gap to his rivals in fifth and fourth place in the rankings, making him all the more keen to find out what he can do this weekend.
The Spaniard hasn‘t done badly here: he consecutively secured a sixth, twelfth, and fifth place in Austria on his YZR-M1 from 2017 to 2019. However, Top Gun would like nothing better than a rematch to make up for the results of last year‘s eventful two rounds in Spielberg.
The Spielberg circuit was constructed in 1969 and was rebuilt in 1996 to the track‘s current lay-out. It hosted two Austrian GPs in the 90s and staged its return to MotoGP Grand Prix racing after nineteen years in 2016. It has been a fixture on the MotoGP calendar since. The track has a special character, with only ten turns in total (three left and seven right) and multiple long straights, the longest measuring 626m. The circuit's design puts the emphasis on top speed, acceleration and braking stability, offering the riders plenty of opportunities to fully open the throttle.
A good set-up at the Spielberg track makes all the difference. In this week's MotoGP eSport video, Lorenzo Daretti (Trastevere73) and Michael Amara (Vindex813) explain the secret to setting a hot lap at this track in the MotoGP21 video game.
