Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Quartararo Pushes to the Limit in Lusail Sprint and Takes P5

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During the Grand Prix of Qatar Saturday, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo gave a strong performance in the qualifying to earn third place on the grid. He made good use of the front-row start in the 11-lap Sprint and was fighting for third place on the podium in the last corner of the very last lap. He ultimately crossed the finish line in fifth position. Álex Rins had made his way through Q1 to take ninth place on the grid in Q2. However, he didn't have the opening laps he had hoped for. He spent the remainder of the Sprint riding from P15 to P12.

Lusail (Qatar), 12th April 2025

It was an overall positive Saturday at the Lusail International Circuit for the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins lined up for the Grand Prix of Qatar Sprint in P3 and P9 on the grid. Quartararo was fighting for a top-3 finish in the Sprint and finished in fifth place in the end. Over the course of the 11-lap dash, Rins made up for a difficult start by pushing to 12th place at the chequered flag.

Quartararo held on to third place on the opening lap but couldn't defend his position from Franco Morbidelli, who overtook the Frenchman on the longest straight coming out of his slip stream. The Yamaha man then had to multitask: he was resisting the pressure of two chasing riders whilst trying not to lose touch with the top 3. El Diablo was successful in maintaining a 0.7s gap to Morbidelli going into the final 4 laps and then rapidly closed in. However, Fermin Aldeguer and Fabio Di Giannantonio were fast approaching. Quartararo rode to the limit and tried to make a move on Morbidelli in the final corner, but a wobble cost him a position. He finished in fifth place, 4.593s from first.

Rins commenced the Sprint from ninth on the grid, but he lost some ground on the first laps and found himself in 15th place. The Spaniard mounted a comeback, however. He overtook Jorge Martin, who fell back with 7 laps to go, and Brad Binder with five laps remaining. One lap later, Johann Zarco crashed, which moved the number-42 rider up to 12th in the rankings. He was chasing down Pedro Acosta for 11th place on the final laps but came half a second short. Rins finished in 12th place, 14.273s from the winner.

Today's results see Quartararo move up to 9th place in the overall standings with 21 points. Rins remains in joint 15th with 10 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP is now in 6th place in the team championship with 31 points, and Yamaha stays in 5th position in the constructor championship with 33 points.

On the Qatar GP Sunday, the teammates will start the track action with the Warm Up held from 15:40-15:50 (GMT+3), followed by the 22-lap Race which starts at 20:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"It was definitely a good Saturday for our team. Having Fabio qualify in P3 underlines that we are making progress and are heading in the right direction. Álex also did a good job making his way through Q1 to take ninth on the grid, which is great. Like I said yesterday, starting towards the front can make a big difference here. Fabio had a good start and put himself in a good position to fight for a place on the podium. He came very close in the last corner of the last lap. Álex didn't quite capitalise on his third-row start, so that is something we will hope to change for tomorrow, but he did manage the rear soft really well. We saw in today's Sprint that tyre degradation is a key factor. Álex and Fabio seemed to be able to keep a good pace going when the tyres dropped, which is good information for tomorrow."

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"It was really nice! I knew in qualifying that I was going to set a good lap time, but I didn't know it was going to be that good. I made zero mistakes on the fast lap, and I felt fast. Our bike suits this track quite well, and we need to take the benefit from this. I have to throw everything at it. During the Sprint, I tried my best. Unfortunately, on the last lap I lost the front three times because I really wanted to fight for the podium. In the last corner, I completely lost the front, and Fermin overtook me. But I think we can be really happy about the day we had today. During this Sprint I learned a lot. There are some areas where I can push tomorrow, and in other areas I need to save the tyres to keep them in good shape. We did a good job today, so let's analyse the data well, and, hopefully, tomorrow we can manage to have a great pace and a great start again."

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"I lost a lot at the start. We have to check why. Apart from that, today was a good day. We went directly from Q1 to Q2. In Q2, I was able to do a good lap whilst riding alone, so I was quite satisfied about this. But in the Sprint, I couldn't do so much after the problem at the start. I got stuck behind Bezzecchi, Martin, and Binder. I was riding on the soft tyre, and this was the right choice for me, but it did mean I was riding a bit on the limit in the last few laps. It's clear that for tomorrow we will be choosing the medium."