Second for Quartararo in San Marino Thriller

20-09-2021

Second for Quartararo in San Marino Thriller

Fabio Quartararo narrowly missed out on a sixth victory of the season in a nail-biting Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, pushing title rival Francesco Bagnaia until the bitter end at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

MotoGP fans were gifted a thrilling battle that went down to the wire this weekend as MotoGP returned to Misano for the first of two visits in 2021. With changing weather over the weekend, the race looked to stay dry despite clouds gathering above the 2.63-mile circuit.

An intense qualifying session on Saturday saw Quartararo earn a front row start despite a crash, and a strong launch for the Frenchman saw him jump to second before having to settle into third at the end of the opening lap. In spite of pressure from behind in the shape of Jorge Martin, the Yamaha man was not planning to relinquish his third place and with the Spaniard crashing out on lap three, attention returned on his charge towards the leaders.

Just over a second behind Jack Miller, Quartararo picked up the pace as the Australian began to struggle. A mistake from the Ducati rider saw the championship leader within striking distance and by lap 14, he was through and into second place.

With clear track ahead, the number 20 YZR-M1 charged after leader Bagnaia. As the laps counted down Quartararo reeled the Italian in, reducing a three second lead to less than a second in the closing stages.

Just half a second separated the pair with four laps to go, but with both riders pushing at their absolute maximum, Quartararo was unable to find a way past and had to settle for second and 20 well-earned championship points.

After being pushed wide in the early stages, PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team rider Valentino Rossi finished his penultimate home Grand Prix in 17th.

Returning to MotoGP action, Franco Morbidelli used the Grand Prix for valuable track time as he stepped up to the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team. The Italian rider finished the race in 18th place.

Making his long-anticipated return to MotoGP after announcing his partnership with PETRONAS Yamaha for the remainder of 2021 and 2022, Andrea Dovizioso got off to a strong start in his first race since the end of the 2020 season, but ultimately finished the Grand Prix 21st as he continues to familiarise himself with the YZR-M1.

Quartararo’s performance limited the damage race-winner Francesco Bagnaia could inflict on his championship lead with the Frenchman heading to the Circuit of The Americas with a 48-point lead over the Italian. Yamaha lie second in the constructor’s championship, 13 points behind the leaders, while Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP continue to lead the team’s standings.

The Yamaha MotoGP teams will return to the Misano circuit on Tuesday and Wednesday for a two-day test before making the trip across the Atlantic as MotoGP returns to America and the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas across the weekend of 1st-3rd October.

Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Race Results
1. Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team
2. Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +0.364
3. Enea Bastianini – Avintia Esponsorama Racing +4.789
4. Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team +10.245
5. Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team +10.469
6. Joan Mir – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +10.525
7. Pol Espargaro – Repsol Honda Team +13.324
8. Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +15.698
9. Brad Binder – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +16.129
10. Takaaki Nakagami – LCR Honda IDEMITSU +18.519
11. Michele Pirro – Ducati Lenovo Team +20.373
12. Johann Zarco – Pramac Racing +21.066
13. Maverick Viñales – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +21.258
14. Stefan Bradl – Team Honda HRC +28.142
15. Alex Marquez – LCR Honda CASTROL +30.686
16. Danilo Petrucci – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing +32.654
17. Valentino Rossi – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT +33.853
18. Franco Morbidelli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +36.272
19. Luca Marini – SKY VR46 Avintia +36.839
20. Miguel Oliveira – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +37.202
21. Andrea Dovizioso – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT +42.587
NC. Alex Rins – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +10 laps
NC. Iker Lecuona – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing +13 laps
NC. Jorge Martin – Pramac Racing +17 laps

2021 MotoGP World Championship Classification
1. Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 234 points
2. Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team 186 points
3. Joan Mir – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 167 points
4. Johann Zarco – Pramac Racing 141 points
5. Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team 140 points
6. Brad Binder – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 124 points
7. Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 104 points
8. Maverick Viñales - Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 98 points
9. Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team 92 points
10. Miguel Oliveira – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 87 points
11. Jorge Martin – Pramac Racing 71 points
12. Takaaki Nakagami – LCR Honda IDEMITSU 70 points
13. Alex Rins – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 68 points
14. Pol Espargaro – Repsol Honda Team 64 points
15. Enea Bastianini – Avintia Esponsorama Racing 61 points
16. Alex Marquez – LCR Honda CASTROL 50 points
17. Franco Morbidelli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 40 points
18. Iker Lecuona – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing 39 points
19. Danilo Petrucci – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing 37 points
20. Luca Marini – SKY VR46 Avintia 28 points
21. Valentino Rossi – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT 28 points
22. Stefan Bradl – Team Honda HRC 13 points
23. Michele Pirro – Pramac Racing 8 points
24. Dani Pedrosa – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 6 points
25. Lorenzo Savadori – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 4 points
26. Tito Rabat – Pramac Racing 1 point
27. Cal Crutchlow – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 0 points
28. Garrett Gerloff – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT 0 points
29. Jake Dixon – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT 0 points
30. Andrea Dovizioso – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT 0 points

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Position: 2nd

“I was thinking about overtaking Pecco on the last lap, but he did an amazing race. I tried everything. To be honest, today I even forgot mostly about the championship. I had some moments with the front, it was close to being a zero today, but in the end a score of 20 here in Misano is very positive. I can't wait to be back the day after tomorrow for the test. We have some interesting things to do. I have nearly a two-race-wins advantage with four races to go. I think that's quite nice. I'm so happy about that, and you can imagine how happy I am that it stayed dry. I feel so good. Last year, my weak point was that I was thinking too much about the championship, but today it was the opposite: I didn't think about it enough. I was super on the limit and I'm happy. My dad said after the finish that I rode like a champion today, which I really appreciated. Let's see what we can do in Misano 2. I think that will be fun, because this was one of the most fun races I ever did. My pace was so strong, and I came so close. I will give it another try in Misano 2.”

Valentino Rossi

PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team Position: 17th

“The crash yesterday meant that I started the race today from 23rd, which was a problem. In the first corner I was able to recover some positions, but then in Turn 4 there was some contact and I had to go off track, which put me last. After that I tried to push, my pace was decent and I was able to complete some overtakes. It’s a shame that it wasn’t enough to earn some points. After the flag it was really nice with the fans, a really emotional moment for me, and I enjoyed being able to do a lap of honour. We have a test this week, so we will try the tyres and see what we can improve with the setting. After that we go to Austin, which was a great race for me last time, and we will see what our potential can be there.”

Franco Morbidelli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Position: 18th

“It was tough, but anyway it was nice to get back to racing. I had a good start, and it was nice to stay in the pack for a few laps. I enjoyed it and it was the right thing to do. This morning I wasn't thinking that it was possible to face this race because I was struggling a little bit with the leg. But with some pain killers and adrenaline, I managed to do the whole race and also be quite consistent. I understood a few things about the bike, so this is positive, and I'm really happy to be back. It will be very important to keep improving the setting of the bike, my feeling on the bike, and try some new items as well, so the Misano test will be really important. It's great, and I'm happy to do it.”

Andrea Dovizioso

PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team Position: 21st

“It was a really strange experience to start the race from 24th, but it was good because we wanted to be consistent throughout the race and learn, which is what we did. Unfortunately I had to do a long lap penalty and I lost the group, but after that I was able to play a little and understand more things. I’m happy with that and also that my best lap of the race was towards the end, plus it wasn’t a bad lap time. I felt a lot of good things from the bike at this point, but we need to work together to analyse why it happened then to make sure I can feel that at the beginning of a race as well. I’m happy that I will get two days of testing this week and I hope that the weather will be good for it.”

Massimo Meregalli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director

“Fabio did an amazing job, as always. Unfortunately, he lost some metres at the start, but our calculations showed that the soft rear, which our rivals used, would drop with 10 laps to go. That was exactly what happened. Fabio kept the pressure on, but in the end the gap was just a bit too big for him to close. But his performance was still incredibly impressive. Franky enjoyed his first race after a long period away. To do 27 laps in his condition after the surgery and the recovery process is really hard. I think he did a very good job. He‘s not at 100% fitness yet, so naturally it‘s a building process. He will just keep improving as his knee heals and he makes more kilometres with the Factory M1. We end the San Marino GP feeling satisfied with the work we've done. We look forward to the second round here, but first we have an important test before we make our way to the next round at COTA.”

Razlan Razali

PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team, Team Principal

“Unfortunately it was not the home Grand Prix that Rossi expected, but he did the best that he could. He was still able to continue celebrating his career with the fans and we hope that the second Misano race next month will be better for him. Andrea Dovizioso has joined the team and today was his first MotoGP race in nearly ten months, plus it’s the first time that he’s been on a Yamaha YZR-M1 since 2012. He has shown some good potential on the bike and his times during the race were credible. I think it’s only a matter of time before he gets up to speed.”