Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Quartararo finishes Spielberg Sprint in 12th Place

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Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo showed some clever riding, securing 12th place on the final lap of the Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich Sprint. Álex Rins was unlucky to be unable to complete the 14-lap dash. He retired after lap 10.

Spielberg (Austria), 17th August 2024

Today’s Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich Sprint was a mixed event for the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. Fabio Quartararo was prepared for battle, riding from P15 on the grid to P12 across the finish line. Álex Rins was keen to make up places at the start and did so successfully. However, the Yamaha rider had his Sprint challenge cut short after lap 10 due to a technical issue.

Quartararo had a good opening lap. He started from P15 and crossed the line for the first time in 10th place, but then got into a scrap with three rivals that relegated the Yamaha man to 13th. In the third lap, he was briefly overtaken by Maverick Viñales, but the Frenchman soon regained 13th. When the order settled, El Diablo found himself with an over 1s-gap to the rider group ahead of him. Quartararo focused on his rhythm, and by lap 8 he had bridged the distance, but he did bring Viñales with him. With Marc Marquez taking a tumble on lap 10, Quartararo moved up to 12th position briefly before Viñales overtook him. The Frenchman bided his time though. A battle on the last laps between Viñales and Miguel Oliveira allowed Quartararo to attempt a last-minute dash. He made good use of it and passed Oliveira to take 12th place, 17.943s from first.

Rins started the Sprint from P21 and showed clever riding at the beginning, making up three positions. But the Spaniard was soon under pressure from charging riders. Though he rode defensive lines, he eventually found himself back in 21st place, fending off Augusto Fernandez. With Joan Mir crashing out on lap 8, the number-42 rider moved up to 20th for a short while but then started to lose ground due to a technical issue. He returned to the garage and was unable to finish the Sprint.

Today's results see Quartararo keep 14th place in the overall standings with 49 points. Rins remains in 21st position with 8 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP keep their 9th place in the team championship with 57 points, and Yamaha hold onto 4th position in the constructor’s championship with 53 points.

MotoGP will be back in action tomorrow for Warm Up, held from 09:40 - 09:50 GMT +2, and the 28-lap Race, which starts at 14:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director

Overall, it’s been a really tough day since the qualifying session. The very hot temperatures during the Sprint race were not helping our situation either. We are always trying to find grip, but it gets harder when the tarmac gets very hot. This morning, the FP2 session proved that in cooler conditions Fabio is able to ride with a very decent pace. On top of the grip issue, Álex had an unusual technical issue in the Sprint that forced him to pit in. We will assess today’s data and come up with something new to try for tomorrow which we hope will help our riders in the even longer Race.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

Checking our pace this morning, it was not so bad. Riding alone, we know that our strong point is braking. With nobody in front, we brake super hard in Turn 1, 2, 3, 4, and 9, but with people in front of us this is more complicated. As usual in a Sprint, in the first laps when everyone is pushing like it's a time attack to create a gap to the riders behind, we don't have this extra grip. I defended my position a lot, but I made mistakes. After the first lap, I was in a good position, P10, but it was difficult to maintain it. Then there were circumstances that made the Sprint pretty tough, but we did the best we could do today.

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

It was tough, I had a mechanical problem on the bike. I felt the bike was slow. I tried to understand what happened, but when I noticed less and less power, I headed to the box to maybe save this engine. Physically I was ok. I had a good start, but lap by lap I was struggling to ride the bike. I tried a different setting for the Sprint to avoid the rear lifting, but it wasn't good. We will keep working.