Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Quartararo and Rins Secure Places in Sepang Saturday's Q2

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Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP enjoyed a positive start to the Grand Prix of Malaysia with both Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins finishing inside the top 10 in the afternoon Practice. They secured sixth and eighth place respectively, putting both riders on the Q2 entry list.

Sepang (Malaysia), 1st November 2024

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins showed good pace on the Grand Prix of Malaysia Friday. The positive first day at the Sepang track saw the teammates set solid laps and successfully put in their bid for places in tomorrow's Q2. They finished sixth and eighth respectively in the Practice rankings.

Quartararo had a good start to the Malaysian GP weekend. He led FP1 for a considerable time in the morning before ending it in sixth place in the timesheets. It gave the Frenchman an extra boost to push in the afternoon Practice. He was holding seventh place when the time attack kicked off. El Diablo tried for first and moved up to fourth and repeated the feat as the times dropped. However, he wasn't home dry just yet. Several competitors saved their best effort for last, pushing him back in the danger zone after the chequered flag had already come out. But the Yamaha man had an ace up his sleeve. A 1'58.303s best time, set on lap 18/18, earned him sixth place, 0.624s from the top.

Rins' wishes for dry weather came true on the Malaysia GP Friday. He was able to test the set-up he had originally planned for the Thai GP Race in today's morning session, which he wrapped up in 16th place. He followed it up with diligent work in the afternoon, featuring just outside the top 10 in 12th place until he started his first time attack. He found some extra speed and moved up to third with a 1'58.774s, but the competition was fierce. On his final run, the Spaniard responded with a 1'58.336s, clocked on lap 16/18. It kept him in eighth place in the Practice rankings as the session came to an end, 0.657s from the top.

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back in action tomorrow for the Saturday MotoGP sessions: FP2 will be held from 10:10-10:40 GMT +8, followed by the qualifying sessions from 10:50-11:30, and the 10-lap Sprint that starts at 15:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director

We had a productive first day in Sepang. Despite a lack of grip in the morning, we were able to be competitive and to evaluate different things. Overall, today's data again underline how hard Yamaha has been working this year to improve the bike. The work continues this weekend: Fabio and Álex also have a new engine to try here. Both our riders did a great job to secure a direct place in tomorrow's Q2. It's a great way to start the weekend, but this is only the beginning. We have to keep our head down. The next goal is to stay on this positive trajectory tomorrow in qualifying and the Sprint.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

It was a good day, a really good day. We usually struggle in the time attack, but I was already doing good laps whilst in race-pace mode. This morning, I was really impressed by my lap times on the hard in low grip conditions because we were at the top of the live timing for a long time with this tyre. I mainly rode on the same bike as I did in Thailand today. I'm happy that Álex and I are both in Q2. There are some things we need to improve, but I feel great on the bike, so it was a really positive day.

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

Today we collected a lot of information. Yamaha brought a new engine. The base is a little bit different. I did the time attack with the new engine because the set-up on that bike was closer to our base one. Overall, our pace is not so good, but we are in Q2, and we have a margin to improve for tomorrow.