Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Quartararo Shows Positive Pace in Thai GP Practice

Pictures for editorial use only
Copyright 2024 Yamaha Motor Racing Srl

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team's Fabio Quartararo showed good pace at the Chang International Circuit today but missed out on a direct Q2 spot by just 0.074s in the Grand Prix of Thailand Practice session. Meanwhile, Álex Rins struggled to challenge for a top-10 result. The duo ended in 12th and 18th place respectively in the Practice, which puts them on tomorrow’s Q1 entry list.

Buriram (Thailand), 25th October 2024

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo started off the Grand Prix of Thailand showing good pace in the two dry Friday sessions. El Diablo, sporting a special Venom helmet this weekend, rode to 12th place in the Practice. Álex Rins didn't have the pace he was looking for on the Friday and ended the afternoon session in 18th, which means he will join his teammate in tomorrow's Q1.

Quartararo had a good FP1, which he wrapped up in 10th position. It left him feeling confident that he could put up a fight for a top-10 placement in the hot afternoon session – and so he did. The Frenchman featured in the upper reaches of the rankings, even briefly topping them as he started his time attack. But the competition was fierce, and in the final six minutes he was in eighth place. He dug deep and went on to clock a 1'29.756s on lap 24/25, but it wasn't enough. He finished in 12th place, 0.591s from first.

Rins had finished FP1 in 19th place and was determined to find an improvement during the afternoon session. The sweltering sunny conditions were quite the opposite from the Australian GP, so the Spaniard had to adjust his M1's settings accordingly. He put in a brave effort during the Practice time attack and did make a small step. His fastest time of the session, a 1'30.198s set on lap 25/27 saw him in 18th position in the Practice classifications, 1.033s from today's best time.

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 +7, followed by the qualifying sessions from 10:50-11:30, and the 13-lap Sprint that starts at 15:00.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director

It's always a bit disappointing when you finish just outside the top 10 on the Friday, but we will focus on the positives. Fabio has shown great pace throughout both sessions today. Though he had hoped for a direct place in Q2, he is more satisfied with the way the bike is performing compared to last week. Álex, on the other hand, is still searching for a set-up that makes him feel better on the bike. The team will gather all of today's data to check if we can find something that will help both riders for tomorrow's qualifying and Sprint. We're hoping that it will stay dry, but either way our team and riders will be giving it their 100% to get the best results possible.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

It was not a super positive Friday for us. The pace was okay. We were pushing like hell from lap 1, but we can see that we are missing some grip during the time attack. We were not able to be fast enough to be inside the top 10. I have mixed feelings: I didn't expect to have such a fast pace, but I also didn't expect be this far from first in the time attack.

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

It was not an easy day, for sure. It was difficult to manage. The morning session was not bad, I was feeling okay, especially considering that I didn't ride here last year. I was far from first in FP1, but the first feeling on track was good. But this afternoon was tough. We need to keep working.