Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Push to P10 and P13 at Balaton Park
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Quartararo started from P6 on the grid and safely negotiated the first corner, though he did lose some positions. After an eventful opening two laps, he held eighth place. However, the Frenchman had to complete a long-lap penalty due to the incident in Turn 1 on the opening lap of the Sprint on August 23. He did so on lap 4 and fell back to 12th position, sandwiched between Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira. With two rivals crashing out ahead of him, he got back up to 10th place with 12 laps to go. However, it remained a lonely ride for the Frenchman. He held 10th all the way to the chequered flag, finishing 15.473s from first.
Rins commenced the Hungarian challenge from P20 and made sure to keep his wits about him as the MotoGP rider pack dashed towards the tight Turn 1. After some back-and-forth between him and other riders and two crashes by rivals on the opening two laps, which lost the Spaniard crucial time, he settled into 18th place. Five further crashes by rivals moved the Yamaha rider up the rankings over the course of the race. Having ridden by himself for most of the 26 laps, Rins crossed the finish line holding 13th place, 22.861s from first.
After the results, Quartararo is in 10th place in the overall standings with 109 points, and Rins holds 19th position with 45 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 6th in the team championship with 154 points, and Yamaha remain in 5th position in the constructor championship with 140 points.
The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team will return to action in Montmeló, Spain for the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalonia, which will be held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from 5-7 September.
Massimo Meregalli (Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP): “While we are still not as competitive as we want to be, we did have a better Sunday compared to the Saturday. Fabio knew he had to complete the long-lap penalty, so he was pushing hard in the opening laps, and he completed it very cleanly. The many crashes today again underline how tricky this circuit is on a MotoGP bike. In the end, Fabio did all he could do, and this 10th place was the maximum result today. Álex had a tough starting position and had to navigate the opening laps’ chaos. He avoided incidents and then just kept his head down to take 13th at the finish line. We know there’s more potential to unlock, so we are looking forward to the next round in Barcelona.”
Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider): “To be honest, I was not super confident at the start because of what happened yesterday, so I braked a bit too early this time. Then something else happened ahead of me on track, and I lost two more positions because of that. I was able to overtake Binder and Bagnaia in the first laps, but after the long-lap penalty the tyre started to drop and I lacked grip. I was pushing hard and was strong in braking, but I was not able to close the gap to Pecco.”
Álex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider): “I was able to do 1’38-low and 1’38-mediums towards the end of the race but not at the start. This is an area that we need to work on, because I didn’t have a good feeling over the first nine laps, and I couldn’t follow Zarco or Ogura who were in front of me.”
