Quartararo Takes Terrific Third Place in Texas Rodeo
Quartararo Takes Terrific Third Place in Texas Rodeo
The Circuit of the Americas took no prisoners in this afternoon‘s MotoGP race. The 20-lap Grand Prix of The Americas saw many riders make costly mistakes, but Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo remained faultless and rallied to a superb third place. Franco Morbidelli also reaped fruits from the tricky race and took solid points thanks to an eighth-place finish.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo bounced back from a disappointing Sprint with a Superman performance in the Grand Prix of The Americas MotoGP Race. He raised his game to another level to take third place, his first podium of the season. Franco Morbidelli had a lonely but fruitful ride at the Circuit of The Americas, holding eighth position across the finish line.
Quartararo had another great start from seventh on the grid and was again in fourth place after the opening lap. Despite battling with Luca Marini, the Yamaha man was able to break away. He then put pressure on Jack Miller in third position.
Both Miller and Francesco Bagnaia soon crashed out of the race, moving El Diablo up to second place. But Marini was not letting the Frenchman keep it without a fight. Quartararo tried to make his M1 as wide as possible but in the end had to settle for third. He concentrated on finishing the race without mistakes and crossed the line 4.936s from first.
Morbidelli started from fourteenth and, manoeuvring skillfully in the busy midpack, ended the opening lap in 11th place. With multiple riders crashing out, some of them ahead of the Italian, Morbido found himself in eighth position by lap 11.
The race became a lonely experience for the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider, but he still needed to stay 100% focused to secure the eight points in hand. He kept pushing and took the chequered flag in eighth place, 20.399s from the race leader.
Today‘s results see Quartararo climb up to 7th in the overall standings with now 34 points. Morbidelli is in 10th place with 29 points. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team move to 4th place in the team championship with 63 points, and Yamaha are in fifth in the constructor‘s championship with 43 points.
The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team will have one week off before they start Round 4, the Gran Premio MotoGP de España, held at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto.
Fabio Quartararo
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
"It was really tough. I was struggling, but I had to fight hard on the first laps because the podium wouldn't be possible if I lost positions in the opening stages. I did my best, and I'm really happy because I'm coming back after a few really tough races. You know, the team works so hard, and they try to keep me calm - that's not an easy job. It feels good to be back in parc fermé, and hopefully more of these visits will be coming."
Franco Morbidelli
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
"This was definitely a better race and better performance than yesterday. The starting position didn't help at all. We lost our chances on Friday by not getting directly into Q2, and we started from too far behind. We worked a lot to climb our way up. It's nice that we were able to have a decent performance in qualifying and in today's Race. We need to take this eighth place, and we need to take the good improvements and the data we have gathered here. We will arrive in Jerez nice and sharp and ready to battle."
Massimo Meregalli
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director
"We got our first podium of the season today! Fabio always gives 100%, but today he gave 10% more, if possible. He rode a smart race: aggressive at the start and clever towards the end. It's great to see him back on the podium. It's a well-deserved reward for him and the team after all the hard work. Franco Morbidelli also made a good step compared to yesterday. Though there are still areas to improve, he was able to recover ground in the first lap and he completed the race with solid points. All in all, we leave Austin with a morale boost, and now we are looking forward to starting the European leg of the season in two weeks‘ time."
