Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Quartararo 5th and Rins 15th After First Day in Andalusia

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Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins got to work at the Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto today, kicking off the Gran Premio de España weekend. The duo gave it their all during the eventful afternoon Practice session and finished it in 5th and 15th place respectively.

Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), 25th April 2025

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins ended a perfectly sunny first day of the Gran Premio de España Practice session in 5th and 15th place respectively. These results have Fabio Quartararo advance to tomorrow’s Q2 session, while Álex Rins will take part in Q1.

Having finished FP1 in P3, Quartararo was feeling positive. He was already pushing halfway through the Practice and leading the session when, 15 min before the end, the first time attacks started to flood in. El Diablo was on a fast lap (-0.3s under his own time) but suffered a crash in the last corner. By the time he had returned to the garage and was ready to go back out on track, he was in P10. His next hot lap was cancelled due to yellow flags, but he had time for two more. He managed to set a 1'36.419s in between more yellow flags. His best lap, achieved on lap 21/22, was enough for 5th place in the Practice timesheets, 0.428s from first.

Rins had wrapped up the morning session in P9 and used a big chunk of the 1-hour Practice to further tweak his bike's set-up. He was following his teammate during his first time attack and briefly moved up to 11th place, but then the times dropped. The Spaniard locked in during his second time attack, but several yellow flags made it difficult to set a hot lap. In the end, his 1'36.957s, posted on lap 22/24, had him rank 15th in the Practice classifications, 0.966s from the top.

Tomorrow, the teammates will be back in action for FP2, held from 10:10-10:40 (GMT+2). The qualifying sessions will follow from 10:50-11:30, and the 12-lap Sprint will start at 15:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"It was an eventful day. We started the weekend off quite well in FP1, with both riders setting a decent time. Fabio is clearly strong this weekend, and it especially showed during the Practice session, which he led for a long time. He was on a really good lap when he crashed, which was a pity. But luckily he was able to set another good lap later, avoiding the numerous yellow flags in the final stages. He improved on his morning time by 1s, and he is in Q2, as was our target. The times are very close this weekend, though. At one point in the Practice session, the top 18 riders were covered by 1s. Álex also managed to find 0.6s in the afternoon, but unfortunately that was not enough to secure a place in Q2. We will go over the data now to try to find something to further boost our performance for tomorrow's qualifying and the Sprint."

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"The pace was good. Unfortunately, I had the crash during my first real time attack, but it was still a positive day. I have confidence, especially on the front, the feeling is incredible. My goal is being inside the top 10 on the Friday. If we are higher, like today, even better, but the top 10 is the main goal. It's difficult at this track though because here the times are super close. But we did it, so I'm happy."

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"It was a tough day today. There's a margin for improvement in the hard braking areas for me. I decided to ride behind Fabio during my first time attack to set a fast lap, but as soon as we started the lap I went wide, and also in Turn 6. In the fast corners, Fabio and I are on the same level though. So, we need to find the same potential on the brakes for tomorrow."