Sensational Second for Quartararo in Wild Indonesian Grand Prix

21-03-2022

Sensational Second for Quartararo in Wild Indonesian Grand Prix

Fabio Quartararo stormed to a sensational second place at this weekend’s Indonesian Grand Prix despite torrential conditions which saw the race delayed by over an hour. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team-mate Franco Morbidelli finished seventh, while rookie Darryn Binder romped to a top-ten finish in just his second race in the premier class.

Fans were treated to a MotoGP epic this weekend as the series returned to Indonesia for the first time in 25-years. Despite a lengthy delay to the shortened 20-lap Grand Prix after a pre-race deluge, the fans didn’t let that dampen their spirits as they prepared for a tense Grand Prix in Mandalika.

Setting a blistering pace in Qualifying to secure his first pole position since Catalunya last season, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo launched off the line perfectly – securing the holeshot and led the opening tour of the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit. Relinquishing the lead to Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller on lap two, Quartararo then had to defend from Alex Rins before a mistake at the final corner on lap four saw the Frenchman lose a further two places.

A flurry of personal best lap times saw the 22-year-old re-pass Rins and he began reeling in the Ducatis of Johann Zarco and Jack Miller, joining the podium fight on lap 15. Wasting no time, the Frenchman executed two inch-perfect manoeuvres to move up to second. Putting the hammer down, he tried to catch run-away leader Miguel Oliveira, and while the gap came down slightly it wasn’t quite possible for the World Champion, who crossed the line in an impressive second place.

Team-mate Franco Morbidelli got a good start from his 14th place grid slot, moving up to sixth by the end of the opening lap. Slipping behind Joan Mir, the Italian continued to adapt to the conditions. Briefly losing a place to Jorge Martin, who later crashed, he pushed on and ultimately brought the YZR-M1 home in seventh position.

Experiencing a wet-weather MotoGP start for the first time, rookie Darryn Binder took it steady through the opening few corners, ending the first lap in 21st. Building confidence and getting quicker as the race went on, the 24-year-old had worked his way through to 13th by the halfway stage and he wasn’t finished there.

Passing Pol Espargaro, he continued his charge through the pack and set his sights on brother Brad Binder. Getting ahead of the KTM on lap 14, the battle went down to the wire with Binder eventually taking the chequered flag in a strong tenth place, 32.901 seconds from first.

After a promising start, Andrea Dovizioso was forced to retire from the Indonesian Grand Prix on lap seven with an electrical failure.

20 World Championship points sees Fabio Quartararo leap to third in the standings, just three points adrift from the top with Franco Morbidelli tenth. The WithU RNF Racing Yamahas head to Argentina with Darryn Binder in 13th and Andrea Dovizioso 18th in the standings. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team leave Indonesia second in the team’s standings with RNF Racing in tenth. Yamaha sits third in the constructor championship with a 27 points total.

MotoGP heads to South America for round three at the Termas de Río Hondo Circuit across the weekend of April 1st-3rd.

Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia Race Results
1. Miguel Oliveira – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
2. Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +2.205
3. Johann Zarco – Pramac Racing +3.158
4. Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team +5.663
5. Alex Rins – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +7.044
6. Joan Mir – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR + 7.832
7. Franco Morbidelli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +21.115
8. Brad Binder – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +32.413
9. Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing +32.586
10. Darryn Binder – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team +32.901
11. Enea Bastianini – Gresini Racing MotoGP +33.116
12. Pol Espargaro – Repsol Honda Team +33.599
13. Alex Marquez – LCR Honda Castrol +33.735
14. Luca Marini – Mooney VR46 Racing Team +34.991
15. Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team +35.763
16. Maverick Viñales – Aprilia Racing +37.97
17. Raul Fernandez – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing +41.915
18. Fabio Di Giannantonio – Gresini Racing MotoGP +47.915
19. Takaaki Nakagami – LCR Honda IDEMITSU +49.471
20. Marco Bezzecchi – Mooney VR46 Racing Team +49.473
21. Remy Gardner – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing +55.964
NC. Jorge Martin – Pramac Racing 7 laps
NC. Andrea Dovizioso – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 6 laps

2022 MotoGP World Championship Standings
1. Enea Bastianini - Gresini Racing MotoGP 30 points
2. Brad Binder – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 28 points
3. Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 27 points
4. Miguel Oliveira – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 25 points
5. Johann Zarco – Pramac Racing 24 points
6. Pol Espargaro – Repsol Honda Team 20 points
7. Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing 20 points
8. Alex Rins – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 20 points
9. Joan Mir – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 20 points
10. Franco Morbidelli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 14 points
11. Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team 13 points
12. Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team 11 points
13. Darryn Binder – WithU Yamaha RNF Racing Team 6 points
14. Takaaki Nakagami – LCR Honda IDEMITSU 6 points
15. Luca Marini – Mooney VR46 Racing Team 5 points
16. Maverick Viñales – Aprilia Racing 4 points
17. Alex Marquez – LCR Honda Castrol 3 points
18. Andrea Dovizioso – WithU Yamaha RNF Racing Team 2 points
19. Remy Gardner – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 1 point
20. Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team 1 point
21. Raul Fernandez – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 0 points
22. Fabio Di Giannantonio - Gresini Racing MotoGP 0 points
23. Marco Bezzecchi – Mooney VR46 Racing Team 0 points
24. Jorge Martin – Pramac Racing 0 points

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Position: 2nd

“I didn‘t expect this! Already from the warm-up lap it felt like we had something extra compared to normal, because we know that we always struggle in wet conditions. When it‘s full wet and there‘s grip, I know my potential. But today I did better than I expected! I saw an opportunity and went for it. These are super important points. I think this is my first podium in the full wet, so I‘m super happy. ’Thanks‘ to the fans who waited for a long time because of the delay of the GP. I‘m super happy that we found something in the wet. I enjoyed this so much, so thanks everyone.”

Franco Morbidelli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Position: 7th

“It was a crazy race! The visibility was zero. You could only see red dots in a white cloud. So it was crazy, but sometimes you're just feeling it, and today I did. After a bad Saturday, we were able to bounce back on Sunday. We did a good start and especially a good first lap of the race. After that I suffered a little bit. We don't have too much experience with the new crew and the new bike, so we need to catch up and adapt as quickly as possible. We will try to do it in Argentina.”

Darryn Binder

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team Position: 10th

“It was an interesting race for sure! When it started raining before the race, I was quite excited to get a rain race under my belt, because it was a learning experience and you know that it’s going to come at some point. Already from the out lap to the grid I was impressed by the amount of grip that the wet tyres had. I started off the race, lap by lap, going a bit harder and faster. I was really impressed by the grip and the feeling I had with the wet tyre. I kept pushing and pushing and then I started making a couple of passes and before I knew it, I was in the points and catching the guys in front of me. Later I got past my brother, which was super cool. Towards the end of the race, once I got to the front of that group, I was struggling a bit with the rear tyre and I wasn’t able to push as much as I did in the beginning. Then it came down to the battle and in the end, I just tried to fight the other guys off. My brother got the better of me and I then fought with Aleix (Espargaro). Overall, it was a really good experience in the rain and I’m really happy with how things went. I felt I gave it a good shot and I’m very pleased with my result.”

Andrea Dovizioso

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team Position: DNF

“I’m disappointed because from the moment I switched on the bike, the dashboard was not working. I couldn’t see or hear anything or use the launch control. Still, I was just riding, pretty far in the back and I was gaining some position. I felt quite good with the handling and grip of the bike, although I was struggling with the left grip on the handle bar from the first lap, as it was turning around and therefore, I couldn’t use my right arm in the normal way. Overall, if I was in a better position on the grid and in a normal race, I could have done better, and Fabio (Quartararo) proved that. It’s not a race that I want but these kinds of issues do happen sometimes.”

Massimo Meregalli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director

“Fabio had a superb ride! At a certain point it looked like he was riding on the dry. I couldn‘t even have imagined this at the beginning of the race. Usually we suffer a bit in these conditions but here the bike was competitive, and today if Fabio had believed a bit more in first laps he could have even done even better. This second place is a fantastic result and it tastes all the sweeter after the Qatar GP. Franky had a fantastic start and that was really the key to his race. He made up seven positions in just the first sector of the first lap and then defended the position the best he could. I have to say that the outcome of this race was unexpected, but we are very happy. We want to thank the Indonesian fans for being so supportive and enthusiastic. We hope they found this first race at the Mandalika Circuit worth the wait!”

Razlan Razali

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team, Founder and Team Principal

“Let’s begin with Andrea; unfortunately, he had an electronical problem, which forced him to retire. Otherwise he was doing really good in P11. I think, he could have been much better than this without this issue. On Darryn’s side, I can just say ‘Wow!’ That was an impressive rookie ride in 10th, fighting against many fast riders. His ability to ride in the rain was really spectacular and we are extremely happy with him! Let’s enjoy this moment with Darryn, who is the top rookie now and then we move on to Argentina.”