Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Quartararo Puts Up Brave Battle for P6 in Americas GP Sprint

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Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins made progress on the dry Grand Prix of The Americas Saturday. Quartararo showed some confident riding to ultimately take the chequered flag in 6th place. Rins was also strong in the opening stages of the Sprint, but he had to contend with the mid-pack action. He ended the 10-lap challenge in 15th position.

Austin (Texas, USA), 29th March 2025

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo started today's Grand Prix of The Americas Sprint from P11, but a strong opening lap had him move up the order. He finished in P6. Álex Rins also had a good start but had to deal with fierce competition in the mid-pack. He crossed the finish line in P15.

Quartararo had a lightning start from P11 and was up to P4 after the first lap. He managed to latch on to the bike of Francesco Bagnaia and was putting the Italian under pressure. On lap 4, El Diablo had a big moment in Turn 15, which allowed a chasing Franco Morbidelli through. Quartararo then gave it his all to defend P5, but on lap 6 he also had to let Fabio Di Giannantonio through. The number-20 rider fought back, scrapping with Franco Morbidelli, but he came just short. With a charging Pedro Acosta inching closer on the final laps, Quartararo focused on managing that gap and successfully wrapped up the Sprint in 6th position, 10.676s from first.

Rins started the Sprint from P14 and negotiated the first corner skilfully. He climbed as high as 11th, but it didn't last. The Yamaha man was battling in the busy mid-pack and was losing ground. Following Maverick Viñales' retirement from the 10-lap challenge on lap 7, the number-42 rider rode in 16th place, but he still had a little bit left in the tank for the final stages. He overtook Johann Zarco with two laps to go and maintained 15th position all the way to the finish line, completing the race 18.181s from the winner.

Today's results see Quartararo move up to 12th place in the overall standings with 10 points. Rins holds 16th place with 5 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP is now in 8th place in the team championship with 15 points, and Yamaha remains in 5th position in the constructor championship with 17 points.

On the Americas GP Sunday*, the teammates will start the track action with the Warm Up held from 09:40-09:50 (GMT -5), followed by the 20-lap Race which starts at 14:00.

*On Sunday, March 30th, Daylight Saving Time will start in Europe (at 2am the clocks go forward to 3am). The clocks in the US do not change (as their Daylight Saving Time has already started on March 9th), therefore the time difference between the US and Europe will increase by an hour on the Sunday.

Massimo Meregalli

Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"The Saturday here in COTA was much better for our team than the Friday. The track time in FP2 this morning was crucial because it was our first fully dry session of the race weekend, and we had to get the dry set-up right. We then went straight into qualifying. Fabio did a really good job all day. He managed to go through Q1 into Q2 and then secured P11 on the grid. He had a brilliant start in the Sprint, which put him in a position that allowed him to pull away with the front runners. He rode at the limit and even went a little over the limit at times, but he was able to save it and avoid a crash. I think that the fans will have enjoyed seeing him battle and put in overtakes, and this sixth place is a good reward for the effort he and the team put in. Álex also had a good start, and he climbed up to eleventh, but he was not able to maintain the position. He was stuck behind a few riders, and it took him a lot of time to overtake them. Once he did, his lap times improved a lot immediately. We will analyse today's data and see what we can tweak to prepare for tomorrow's 20-lap Race."

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"Today was great! This morning, I noticed we were more consistent, which was a step up from Argentina. Today I could give everything I had. I was feeling quite okay, and it was a really fun Sprint race. In straight braking we are quite okay. This is one of our strong points, and the front of my bike is good, so I was trying to use it to my advantage. But in Turn 15, where you have to brake on a lean angle, we really have to push the front. I made some mistakes, but I also had some good saves today. We are trying to work on the balance of the bike, so let's see what we can do tomorrow."

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"I was struggling with stopping the bike. I did an acceptable start and went to P11. But then over the remaining laps I started going wide in corner 11 and 12. This prevented me from riding with a consistent pace. But the team has something in mind for tomorrow. Let's see how it goes."