The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team are eager to get back to action, competing this weekend at the Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich event, held at the Spielberg circuit.
Fabio Quartararo enters Round 13 of the 2022 MotoGP season as the championship leader, with a 22-point advantage over his closest rival.
Though the Spielberg circuit doesn‘t play into the Yamaha‘s strengths, the Frenchman scored a third place in Austria on his YZR-M1 in 2019 and repeated the feat in the dry 2021 Styrian GP. He got seventh in the sudden flag-to-flag Austrian GP that came next and is planning to show his strong form again this weekend regardless of the weather.
Franco Morbidelli arrives in Austria with a positive mindset. Having found decent pace in the race last time round, the Italian feels his crew‘s hard work this season is starting to pay off. Though the stop-start nature of the Austrian track will offer an extra challenge this weekend, they will use the occasion to collect further data.
Morbido is currently 19th in the overall standings. He only has a one-point gap to the rival ahead of him in the rankings, making him all the more keen to score solid points this weekend.
The Spielberg circuit was constructed in 1969 and was rebuilt in 1996. 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, even hosting two consecutive GPs (Austrian GP and Styrian GP) in 2020 and 2021. 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.
