Quartararo Dominates to Emotional Mugello Victory

31-05-2021

Quartararo Dominates to Emotional Mugello Victory

Fabio Quartararo proved to be untouchable once again this weekend as he dominated his way to his third victory of the season in Mugello. Maverick Viñales recovered to take eighth place in what was a race of attrition in the Tuscan hills. Valentino Rossi had a positive race, securing a top ten finish at his home Grand Prix while PETRONAS team-mate Franco Morbidelli finished the race in 16th after getting caught up in another rider’s accident.

The hills were alive with the sound of MotoGP bikes this weekend as the championship returned to the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello for the first time since 2019 for round six of the 2021 season, but regrettably, a dark cloud hung over Sunday’s race action after news reached the paddock of the tragic passing of Moto3 rider, Jason Dupasquier.

Starting the emotional 23-lap Italian Grand Prix from pole position, Quartararo found himself in second at turn one. Trading places with Francesco Bagnaia throughout the opening lap, the Frenchman took the lead after the Italian crashed out on lap two.

With his head down, Quartararo overcame the challenge from compatriot Johann Zarco and began to open a gap over the chasing pack. From there, he never looked back as he stretched his lead to over four seconds, eventually crossing the line 2.5 seconds ahead of second place to record his third win of the season and extended his lead at the top of the championship standings.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team-mate Maverick Viñales finished inside the top ten in Sunday’s Grand Prix. The Spanish rider started from 13th on the grid but lost positions in the usual opening lap fight. Keeping a cool head, he found himself on the cusp of the top ten positions by the halfway stage and made his way past Michele Pirro on lap 13. Late crashes for his rivals saw the former Moto3 champion rise to eighth place, where he eventually finished, securing eight championship points.

Valentino Rossi started from 19th on the grid and had worked his way up to 15th by the halfway stage. Setting his personal best lap of the race on lap 11, the Italian set after the riders ahead and found himself on the brink of a top ten on the final lap, going on to secure a top ten finish in tenth at his home Grand Prix. PETRONAS team-mate Franco Morbidelli finished the Grand Prix in 16th after running off the track while avoiding an accident.

Adding 25 points to his championship quest, Quartararo sits on 104 points and sees his lead atop of the standings open to 24 points, while Viñales lies sixth with 64 points. Franco Morbidelli sits ninth in the standings with Rossi in 19th. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP and Yamaha lead the team and constructor standings.

The MotoGP riders are back in action next weekend for the Catalan Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for round seven across 4-6th June.

Yamaha Motor Company and Yamaha Motor Racing are deeply saddened by the passing of Jason Dupasquier. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, loved ones, and the PrüstelGP team.

Gran Premio D’Italia Oakley Race Results
1. Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
2. Miguel Oliveira – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +2.592
3. Joan Mir – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +3.000
4. Johann Zarco – Pramac Racing +3.535
5. Brad Binder - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +4.903
6. Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team +6.233
7. Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +8.030
8. Maverick Viñales – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +17.239
9. Danilo Petrucci – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing +23.296
10. Valentino Rossi – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT +25.146
11. Iker Lecuona - Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing +25.152
12. Pol Espargaro – Repsol Honda Team +26.059
13. Michele Pirro – Pramac Racing +26.182
14. Alex Marquez – LCR Honda CASTROL +29.400
15. Lorenzo Savadori – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +32.378
16. Franco Morbidelli – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT +37.906
17. Luca Marini – SKY VR46 Avintia +50.306
NC. Takaaki Nakagami – LCR Honda IDEMITSU +4 laps
NC. Alex Rins – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +5 laps
NC. Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team +22 laps
NC. Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team +22 laps
NS. Enea Bastianini – Avintia Esponsorama +23 laps

2021 MotoGP World Championship Standings
1. Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 105 points
2. Johann Zarco – Pramac Racing 81 points
3. Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team 79 points
4. Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team 74 points
5. Joan Mir – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 65 points
6. Maverick Viñales – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 64 points
7. Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 44 points
8. Brad Binder – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 35 points
9. Franco Morbidelli – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT 33 points
10. Miguel Oliveira – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 29 points
11. Pol Espargaro – Repsol Honda Team 29 points
12. Takaaki Nakagami – LCR Honda IDEMITSU 28 points
13. Alex Rins – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 23 points
14. Danilo Petrucci – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing 23 points
15. Alex Marquez – LCR Honda CASTROL 20 points
16. Enea Bastianini - Avintia Esponsorama 20 points
17. Jorge Martin – Pramac Racing 17 points
18. Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team 16 points
19. Valentino Rossi – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT 15 points
20. Iker Lecuona - Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing 13 points
21. Stefan Bradl – Honda HRC 11 points
22. Luca Marini – SKY VR46 Avintia 9 points
23. Michele Pirro – Pramac Racing 3 points
24. Lorenzo Savadori – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 3 points
25. Tito Rabat – Pramac Racing 1 point

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Position: 1st

“In short, there was a lot of emotion today. It was an amazing day for us, but it was so difficult to stay focused. Honestly, I don‘t know how I was able to keep up this pace because every lap you do, you are thinking about Jason Dupasquier. It‘s not an easy thing to do, and I think that all the riders rode for him. My thoughts are with his family. My strategy today was to see which position we would get with the use of the holeshot device. I am super happy with it. I was in second place at the first corner. I remember 2019, when I started from second here and I think I was eighth or ninth in the first corner. So, it was amazing to arrive at the first corner in fourth gear and in second position today. I was riding easily behind Francesco Bagnaia, and when I saw him crash, I wanted to try to ride five laps at my maximum. But then Johann Zarco overtook me. So I said, ’I need to do aggressive moves‘. First of all to make him lose time and also to open up a gap. I thought, ’if I can hold on to first going into the first corner, it‘s good‘, and that‘s what happened. So, I‘m really happy about my race.”

Maverick Viñales

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Position: 8th

“Well, actually I didn't have enough feeling with the front. I struggled a lot. Somehow, I was so good during FP1, but at that time I was riding with the soft front. So we need to check what makes such a big difference in the front feeling between compounds for us. We need to find out why I struggled with the medium front tyre this entire weekend. I couldn't turn and couldn't make a big improvement in my lap times. Basically, during this race I struggled a lot. It wasn't a good weekend for us unfortunately, and overall today was a sad day. It was very emotional to stand on the starting grid before the race for the one-minute silence in remembrance of Jason Dupasquier. I send my condolences to his family and friends as well as his team.”

Valentino Rossi

PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team Position: 10th

“My condolences go to the family of Jason Dupasquier, his team and also his friends. When these things happen it is difficult to find the will to race, because you question what is the point of racing? But unfortunately you also ask what is the sense in not racing? You cannot change what happened. It was very difficult to put the helmet on and concentrate on the race today. I lost a bit of time in the first corner because of contact, but after that my pace was decent. I was able to recover, do some overtakes and I could stay inside the top-ten. It is not fantastic, but we have taken some points today.”

Franco Morbidelli

PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team Position: 1st

“Today was very difficult to concentrate and be focused for the race because of the very sad news that we received before the race. Our sport can be like this sometimes; unfortunately it is a dangerous sport and things like this can happen. I’m really sorry for what happened, but it’s important to absorb this hard hit and go forward with the same energy as always. My condolences go to all of Jason Dupasquier’s loved ones. Regarding the race, another rider crashed in front of me on the second lap and I had to avoid both him and his bike. I had to try not to crash myself as well, which I managed, but it cost me a lot of time and I was unable to stay with the pack. Anyway, I didn’t have the speed that I would have wanted today and overall it just wasn’t the best of days, for many reasons. I’m now looking forward to forgetting this weekend and to face another race in Barcelona next week.”

Massimo Meregalli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director

"Fabio did an amazing job today. He was feeling quite emotional after the one-minute silence, but he still managed to do a good job, staying fully concentrated. Honestly, coming here we didn‘t expect that we were going to win the race in Mugello – which is usually territory more suited to our rivals – and especially with such a comfortable margin. But Fabio and his crew worked really cleverly this weekend on fixing the mapping and trying to save as much tyre as possible, and the rest was all Fabio. Though the team tried some setting tweaks this morning, we weren‘t able to make Maverick 100% comfortable with the front of his bike during the race. Starting from 13th is difficult for us anyway, but he did a good job to just steadily pick up places where he could and take 8th place in the end. Overall we are pleased because our team got its fourth win of the season, but the tragic passing of Jason Dupasquier casts a shadow over this day. All Yamaha staff‘s and the team members‘ thoughts are with his family, friends, loved ones, and the PrüstelGP team."

Razlan Razali

PETRONAS Yamaha SRT, Team Principal

"It has been a difficult weekend for the whole of the MotoGP fraternity, with the loss of young rider Jason Dupasquier. It’s hard for all of us to have this loss in the paddock, but this is our sport and it’s dangerous. Everyone is grieving with this loss. It was a very good top-ten for Valentino in today’s MotoGP race, however it is a shame that Franco’s GP unfolded the way it did."