Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Rins Completes Italian GP Sprint in 13th Place

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Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Álex Rins engaged in a hard battle for P12 during the 11-lap Gran Premio d'Italia MotoGP Sprint and finished in 13th place. Fabio Quartararo's endeavours at the Autodromo del Mugello were cut short due to a collision with another rider in Turn 10 on lap 2.

Scarperia (Italy), 1st June 2024

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Álex Rins engaged in battle at the Autodromo del Mugello's, trying to snatch P12 during the Gran Premio d'Italia Sprint. He ultimately crossed the finish line in 13th place. Fabio Quartararo was unlucky to be involved in a crash with another rider on lap 2, ending his chances to fight for points.

Rins began the Sprint from P10 but fell back to 17th on the opening lap. Three crashes on the second lap and another on lap 8 saw him move up to 13th. Meanwhile, the Spaniard was riding right behind Jack Miller, keen to find a way through. On lap 9, the number-42 made his first attempt, but it didn't stick. He gave it another go at the start of the last lap, but again he couldn't hold on to the position. He ended the Sprint in 13th place, 14.137s from first.

Quartararo started from P15 and, after a busy opening sector in the mid-pack, emerged in 14th place. However, on the second lap he was overtaken by Marco Bezzecchi, and the setbacks continued. A collision in Turn 10 between Miguel Oliveira and El Diablo ended both riders' efforts prematurely.

Today's results see Quartararo remain in 12th place in the overall standings with 32 points. Rins stays in 21st position with 7 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP keep their 9th place in the team championship with 39 points, and Yamaha hold onto 4th position in the constructor’s championship with 35 points.

On the Italian GP Sunday, the teammates will start the track action with the Warm Up held from 09:40 - 09:50 (GMT +2), followed by the 23-lap Race, which starts at 14:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director

We had hoped for more on this Saturday, but qualifying in P10 and P15 meant we were dealt a difficult hand in Mugello. Álex didn't have the start he would have liked. He was fighting for P12, but he was struggling to overtake due to a lack of traction and difficulty on turning. This lack of grip was because of the high track temperature: during the Sprint it was the warmest it has been these two days. It's a shame that Fabio's challenge ended early today, but we are happy that he is unharmed. This accident is quite borderline. We think that Miguel was a bit ambitious in his actions. We will deeply analyse the data we could gather from today to prepare something for tomorrow's Warm Up and have a do-over in the Race.

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

Today, the feeling with the bike was a little bit different from what I felt on Friday. I was struggling a little bit more to turn the bike and to get the traction. We need to work and understand why this is. We need to find something on the bike to close the gap.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

After, I talked with Miguel a little bit. He, of course, braked really late, he made a mistake, and we crashed together. But these things can happen. I couldn't collect any information for the Race. Unfortunately, we couldn't get into Q2, but the lap time in Q1 was quite okay. We have to improve our Friday. I think we are making steps forward. Of course we want much more, but step by step we are getting there. Let's see what we can do tomorrow. Our pace is not fantastic – it's quite good, but we won't expect any big results. As I said, we are heading in the right direction, but we need to improve.