Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Teammates Enter Solidarity GP's Q1

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The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team returned to action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya today, kicking off the Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona, the final round of the 2024 season. Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins wrapped up this afternoon's Practice in 13th and 14th place respectively, putting them on the entry list for tomorrow's Q1.

Montmeló (Catalunya), 15th November 2024

The Practice times were all very close together, promising an exciting Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona race weekend to close out the 2024 season. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins ended the afternoon Practice session in 13th and 14th place respectively, which puts them on the entry list for tomorrow's Q1.

Quartararo concluded this morning's Free Practice 1 in eleventh place and got straight to business in the afternoon Practice session working on race pace until the last 10 minutes. The Frenchman was pushing on his final two runs. He clocked a best time of 1'39.791s on lap 24/26. With some rivals improving their times after the chequered flag had already come out, his fastest lap put El Diablo in 13th place in the classifications, 0.873s from the top.

Rins wrapped up an overcast FP1 in 17th place. He worked on bettering his feeling with the M1 around the Montmeló track in the more sunny afternoon session. Once the time attacks got underway, the number-42 rider found some improvement and set a 1'40.258s for 13th place. However, as the times dropped, he was relegated to 17th. Rins gave it one more try and responded with a 1'39.794s, set on lap 22/23, which ultimately put him in 14th place in the rankings, 0.876s from first.

MotoGP will be back in action for FP2, held tomorrow from 10:10-10:40 (GMT +1). The qualifying sessions will follow from 10:50-11:30, and the 12-lap Sprint will start at 15:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director

We didn't have the start we had hoped for. We had seen improvements in recent GP weekends, so we were keen to see how the bike updates would work here. However, we struggled more than we anticipated. We will have to keep working hard for tomorrow's Q1 session, because we expect that it will be a tough battle for those top two spots. We need to better our overall performance to secure the best possible starting position for the final Sprint and Race.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

I think it was really tough today. It was complicated to make a good lap time. The feeling was good, but we are lacking in some areas. It will be difficult to get a place in Q2 and make some great races this weekend. I think that tomorrow morning the lap times will immediately be faster, but I don't think they will be at the level of qualifying here back in May. But we shall see. For sure, we will give it our 100%.

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

Honestly, it was a big challenge. It was a big question mark if our package would be better or not this weekend. For sure, this GP is quite crucial for us. We can compare data of a different bike that we used in Round 6 when we were riding here back in May. We are struggling more than we were in the first Montmeló GP weekend. So, we need to find a way to improve. We need to keep working and analysing.