Quartararo Sprints to Sensational Second Place on Monster Energy Catalan GP Saturday

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo flexed his muscles during the September 6 Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalonia Sprint. He followed up his P2 qualifying result with some serious early race performance. It put the Frenchman in podium contention, and a faultless race by him cemented his best Sprint result to date: second place. Álex Rins had to come from P20 on the grid, and his perseverance paid off. He ended the Sprint in P15.

Quartararo started from P2 and pulled off some heroic moves to fight off Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta in the opening corners. He managed to defend his position over the first lap, battling hard, but he was overtaken by rivals on the start-finish straight. The Yamaha rider again used the nimbleness of the M1 in Turn 1 to sneak back past Acosta for third place. The order settled, and soon El Diablo had shaken off his pursuers whilst chasing the two Marquez brothers. When Alex Marquez crashed out with 4 laps to go, Quartararo moved up to second place. He kept his head cool and brought it home, finishing 1.299s from the winner.

Starting the Sprint from P20, Rins lost some ground in the opening stages. He initially fell back to 23rd but soon climbed up to 21st, passing Somkiat Chantra and Lorenzo Savadori on lap 2 of the 12-lap contest. The number-42 rider was riding behind Francesco Bagnaia and looking to inch close enough to find a way through. However, he instead was overtaken by Aleix Espargaró. Then sudden chaos, with Franco Morbidelli taking out Jorge Martin, Fermin Aldeguer taking out Marco Bezzecchi, and Alex Marquez crashing out of the lead, moved Rins up to 16th. The Yamaha man had something left in the tank for the final stages and got his revenge on Aleix Espargaró, snatching back P15 on the last lap. He held on to it all the way to the chequered flag, taking it 15.936s from first.

Massimo Meregalli (Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP): “The qualifying marked a positive shift for Fabio. After a challenging first day in Barcelona, securing a front-row start was a timely boost for team morale on this key weekend for our team and our title sponsor. In the Sprint, Fabio executed exactly as needed – battling in the lead group, maximising our package’s potential, and maintaining a strong pace throughout. It was a standout performance. Álex faced a tougher task. He had to start from P20 as an indirect result of his crash in FP2 right before qualifying. While he’s not yet where he aims to be, he managed some overtakes. We’ll review the data closely to identify improvements, especially focusing on tyre management.”

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider): “This second place, my best result in a Sprint, means a lot. To be able to fight with both Marquez brothers and also with Acosta – it was a super fight! We are back in Parc Fermé after some tough races. To be able to battle with these riders and see that we are not so far from them was so good! I want to thank all the fans. I’m super happy!”

Álex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider): “The Sprint race was tough, starting so far towards the back. The key point was this morning. I crashed in corner 5 in FP2, and then straight away went into the quali. The confidence was not at 100%, so I lost some time in some areas. I started from P20, and gave it my maximum, even if starting from P20 is always a bit difficult to manage. I was trying to look at the lines of Pecco and Aleix. I could overtake them in the corners, but I would lose the positions on the straight. I overtook Aleix in corner 13-14. He then overtook me with Maverick on the straight, but then they went wide, and I passed them in corner 2. At least I got to enjoy the battles a little bit.”

credit: Yamaha MotoGP