Quartararo & Morbidelli Soldier On to Solid Points in Hot Spielberg Race

20-08-2023

Quartararo & Morbidelli Soldier On to Solid Points in Hot Spielberg Race

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli had to work up a sweat at the hot and long Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich MotoGP Race. They pushed hard, gaining momentum in the second half of the 28-lap battle, to finish in 8th and 11th place respectively.

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team took on the competition at the Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich in sweltering heat. Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli let the 28-lap come to them. Managing the tyres well at the tricky Spielberg circuit, they finished in 8th and 11th place respectively.

Quartararo started from P9 but lost positions in the opening stages of the race. He fell as far back as 12th but was able to turn things around after the midway stage. He moved up by overtaking Johann Zarco and later Jack Miller, and then closed the gap to Enea Bastianini.

On lap 20, the number-20 rider regained ninth place and was back in his original starting position. The Frenchman had set his sights on the eighth place held by Aleix Espargaró and launched a successful attack on the last lap. Quartararo defended his position and held eighth over the finish line, 19.509s from first.

As Pol Espargaró was given a grid penalty, Morbidelli started the race from P14 instead of P15. He kept his position through the opening laps. However, by lap 4 he was engaged in a battle with Pol Espargaró and was briefly pushed back to 15th before Miguel Oliveira retired from the race, moving the Italian up the 14th place once more.

Morbido later overtook Pol Espargaró again and found himself in 13th place, riding behind his teammate for a little while. He was keen to follow him, but he struggled to find a way to pick off Zarco until there were 10 laps to go. Next, the Yamaha man was immediately all over the back of Miller and snatched 11th place four laps later. He was closing in on Bastianini, but a top-10 finish proved just out of reach. Morbidelli took the chequered flag in 11th place, 21.527s from the race leader.

Today‘s results see Quartararo remain in 11th in the overall standings with 73 points. Morbidelli likewise stays in 12th place with now 65 points. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team keep their 6th place in the team championship with 138 points, and Yamaha are now joint 4th in the constructor‘s championship with 93 points.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP will be back in action in two weeks‘ time, when they start Round 11, the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, held in Montmeló, Spain.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"Unfortunately, on the first three laps I was missing a lot of grip. I couldn't fight for the position I had hoped for. But, like I said on Thursday: if I give my 100%, I will be happy with the race. This is what I did. We know where the points of improvement are for our bike, but today it was great to do laps behind our competitors so I could really see and give great feedback to the engineers. This year I‘m working on two things. I am trying to finish in the best place possible. I‘m trying to learn and be focused and calm. But I‘m also trying to prepare for next year, which I think will be super important. I want to give the best feedback to Yamaha as possible, to make the best bike as possible."

Franco Morbidelli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"It was a tricky race. I was starting a from a bit further behind, so I had to recover some positions. It was a fun race, anyway. I was in good form, and I could recover quite some positions. I felt strong, I felt that I had a good pace. But unfortunately the starting position is still an issue. We will try to improve that and improve other areas as well, for sure."

Massimo Meregalli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director

"Warm Up showed that the riders‘ feelings with the bike are good, but we hadn‘t had a session as hot as today‘s Race during this GP weekend. The Spielberg track is hard on the tyres and also on the brakes. Tyre pressure and tyre degradation played a key role, and on top of that the riders‘ concentration and fitness. During races like these, the sting is always in the tail. While our riders did a good job managing the situation towards the final stages, gaining positions, we weren‘t strong enough at the start of the race to challenge in the front group. Still, our overall performance was not too bad at a track that doesn‘t suit us much. Now we look forward to the next round in Montmeló. It‘s another Monster Energy sponsored GP and a track that is more up our alley."