03 Sep, 2023
Montmeló (Catalunya), 3rd September 2023 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo kept his head cool in the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya restart. His strong launch from the grid helped him finish in 7th position. For Franco Morbidelli the race turned into a lonely ride. He took the chequered flag in 14th place.
A multirider incident and a highside from Francesco Bagnaia in the opening corners caused a red flag that was followed by a quick restart. The race length was reduced by one lap to 23 in total. Morbidelli and Quartararo started from P16 and P17 on the grid respectively again, but with Enea Bastianini and Bagnaia at the medical centre, they were technically in 14th and 15th place in the live timing.
Quartararo had a superb restart and soon slotted into tenth place. He was all over the back of Marc Marquez’ bike. On lap three he snatched ninth place from the home hero. However, an over-0.8s gap had formed to the rider ahead. When Brad Binder suffered a mechanical issue on lap 4, the Frenchman moved up to eighth. At the midway stage he overtook Jack Miller for seventh. The Yamaha man closed another 0.8s gap to the rider in sixth, but he was unable to make a move and ended the race in seventh place, 10.821s from the race leader.
Morbidelli completed the opening lap of the restart in 12th place but soon got involved with various rivals and was relegated to 15th place. When Binder retired from the race, the Italian was back up in 14th place. Later he lost a place to Luca Marini, but Raul Fernandez also suffered technical issues, moving the Yamaha rider up a spot again. With a big margin to the rivals in front and behind him, the Italian mainly focused on tyre management. He took the chequered flag in 14th position, 23.108s from first.
Today’s results see Quartararo remain in 11th in the overall standings with 82 points. Morbidelli likewise stays in 12th place with now 67 points. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team keep their 6th place in the team championship with 149 points, and Yamaha is 4th in the constructor’s championship with 102 points.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP will be back in action next Friday, 8th September, when they start Round 12, the Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, held in Misano, Italy. The GP round will be followed the Misano MotoGP Official Test.
