Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Face Close Contest on San Marino GP Friday

08-09-2023

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Face Close Contest on San Marino GP Friday

Today, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP started their second home race, the Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, but the competition was fierce with 19 riders within 0.975s of the best time. Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli secured 13th and 14th place respectively in the Practice, putting them on the Q1 entry list.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli went to work today in the FP1 and Practice session to prepare for Saturday‘s and Sunday‘s Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Sprint and Race. Though both riders booked progress, they ended the Friday in 13th and 14th place respectively, which means they will be taking part in Q1 tomorrow.

It was a busy start to the San Marino GP for Quartararo. He tried many settings and completed many laps in the hot afternoon Practice. He was holding eighth place until the time attack kicked off in the final minutes. The Frenchman's 1'31.532s last attempt got cancelled. He ended the session in 13th place, 0.798s off the top of the timesheets, with a best time of 1‘31.644s, set on lap 22/26.

Morbidelli started his home GP with strong motivation. He worked diligently in the morning and afternoon session and found some speed at the end of the Practice. The Italian pushed hard and posted a 1‘31.710s on lap 23/24. But with the pace picking up, it was not enough to move him up to a place in Q2. His efforts ultimately put him in 14th place in the Practice results, 0.864s from the top.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"We tried many things today, but I think maybe it was a bit too much. We have to keep working and try to keep improving. Trying to get into Q2 tomorrow will be super important. We will give our best and fight for the best possible position on the grid."

Franco Morbidelli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"I can‘t be satisfied with today. We didn‘t achieve our aim, which was to get directly into Q2. I could just do one time attack and unfortunately I couldn‘t get a top-10 spot. I did a 1‘31.7s, and that was not enough to get into Q2. It‘s a pity."

Massimo Meregalli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director

"The objective was the top 10, as always, but we weren‘t able to make that happen today, which is disappointing. That said, the times are all very close together. There are 19 riders covered by 0.975s, and the gap to a top-10 result was 0.108s for Fabio and 0.174s for Franky. We will work hard to tweak our set-ups this evening and tomorrow morning in FP2 to help our riders for qualifying and the Sprint. We still have time to improve."