Superb Second for Fabio Quartararo in Texas

Superb Second for #fabioquartararo in Texas

Fabio Quartararo consolidated his 2021 MotoGP #worldchampionship lead with a stunning second place at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) this weekend.

Fabio Quartararo secured a further 20 #worldchampionship points after a second-place finish at the bumpy Circuit of The Americas extending his championship lead to 52 points.

After securing a front row start on Saturday, Quartararo made a good start from second on the grid and maintained position on the opening lap. Close behind Marc Marquez, the 22-year-old looked to find a way through early on but couldn’t get his YZR-M1 ahead.

Settling into second, Quartararo pushed on despite being under pressure from the Ducatis of Jorge Martin and Jack Miller. Despite their best efforts, they were no match for the Frenchman who remained untouched, taking a brilliant second place and extending his championship lead to 52- points with 75 points still available over the remaining three rounds.

Andrea Dovizioso’s second race with Yamaha ended in 13th place after the Italian was locked in battle for the final points positions, eventually brining his PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang #racing Team M1 home to secure three points.

Team-mate and countryman #valentinorossi finished the Grand Prix of Americas in 15th place.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s #francomorbidelli had a tough return to Texas, finishing 19th.

On top of Quartararo’s Riders’ Championship lead, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP move to second place in the team standings with 349 points, and Yamaha hold on to second in the constructors’ championship with 282 points.

The MotoGP paddock will now take a short break before returning to action for the second visit to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli across the weekend of October 22nd-24th.

Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, 2nd

“You can imagine how happy I am! I think that we managed to do a really great job. This morning I tried the soft rear, and honestly that was not really a race option for us all weekend, but I felt good. The first 12 laps of the race were the toughest, when I tried to make a gap between me and Jorge. And we did it. This is the best second place that I‘ve ever gotten in my life. It‘s even better than a victory, to be honest, because I‘m getting closer to my dream. It was so emotional because there are only three races left, and I have an over 50-point advantage. At least we made this long flight to leave here with a great result. I will now go back home and relax with my family for a few days. I will enjoy those moments with them a lot. I think that we are starting to think in a different way now, because the championship‘s end is getting closer. This is my first time really talking about it, but things are looking good.”

Andrea Dovizioso – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT, 13th

“I’m very disappointed with the start because I almost switched off the engine - I don’t know if I made a mistake but I lost a lot of positions, so we’re looking into that. This made it not very easy, especially as it’s very difficult for us to overtake, but in the end my pace was quite good and quite consistent. I’m disappointed because I didn’t achieve the maximum - with a good start I believe I could have been in the top ten, but the improvement since Misano is huge and we’re continuing to work hard and to adapt to the bike. We are in a strange situation that I can be happy even when we don’t get a good result because I’m learning, so it’s ok and we will continue to work in this way.”

Valentino Rossi – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT, 15th

“Considering my pace during the weekend my speed today in the race was decent. I was able to take one point, but it was really, really hard. A very long race. This track is always very demanding because we have some wild braking, a lot of change in direction and a lot of bumps, and with this temperature it was very long today. For the level of MotoGP machines now you have to be very, very fit. I used the medium rear and I felt good and was able to recover some positions, but unfortunately I was not fast enough. We expected to be stronger, but we suffered through the weekend. Finally though at the end I’m happy because it was so tough but still I took one point.”

Franco Morbidelli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, 19th

“The race was very, very tough. I wasn‘t in the condition to fully perform in the race because this track is really demanding on the body and I‘m still recovering, and 20 laps here with my physical condition were really tough. At some point I was just trying to get the bike to the end. At the beginning of the race, when I was still able to, I wanted to push a little and make some more kilometres to learn and adapt more to the bike. We got some interesting information that we can analyse, and we can do something with it for Misano. The next GP weekend is in three weeks, so I will have some more time to heal and prepare for that race. This is positive, and overall it was a positive weekend. We understand better which direction to take. Of course, the result is not what we wanted, but this is like a pre-season for us. We have to see it in this way. We are collecting interesting data for the next races.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director

“Today's second place is the result of very precise work done by the team. We improved session by session throughout the entire weekend, including in the Warm Up when we made the final rear tyre decision. We tried all tyre options this morning, including the soft rear that we hadn‘t considered earlier, and we were able to make the right decision. We also found something to make Fabio feel a bit more comfortable with the numerous bumps here, and that really paid off during this race. Fabio did a great job. It was another really mature ride from him. He had a good start and his immediate retaliation when Martin tried to overtake him was exactly what he needed to do. Then in the second half of the race he just focused on his own rhythm, which is easier said than done at this physical track, but he managed it. Moreover, he took this second place and a crucial 20 points at a track that isn‘t our strongest, and they are like gold for Fabio‘s championship campaign. Franky really suffered because he is still recovering, which wasn't helped by today's 20-lap long race. His result doesn‘t really do credit to the hard work he put in and the improvements he and his crew made over the weekend, but that is the way it is for now. We are sure he will be feeling much better again after the two weeks‘ rest before the Misano 2 race weekend.”

Razlan Razali – PETRONAS Yamaha SRT, Team Principal

“Both our MotoGP riders are also back in the points which is great, and they’re the first points for Andrea in just his second race with us. I think it’s the first time that all our riders have got into the points, which is a great team effort.”