Fifth for Quartararo in San Marino Battle

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Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s #fabioquartararo secured more vital World Championship points this weekend as he battled to fifth in Misano.

Championship leader #fabioquartararo recorded another top-five finish this weekend as the #motogp field returned to the Adriatic coast for round 14 of the thrilling 2022 #motogp World Championship.

After an unexpected rain shower during Saturday’s second qualifying session left Quartararo down in eighth, the Frenchman aimed to make a strong start. The 23-year-old lost a position in the opening corner battle, but a quick retaliation saw him end the first lap where he started.

As the race went on, the Yamaha rider continued to rise up the order as riders in front of him crashed out early on. Latching onto the rear of Aleix Espargaro, the rider from Nice wasted no time, capitalising from a mistake at turn 13 to claim fifth. Attention swiftly turned to the leading quartet, but as he escaped from the chasing pack, Quartararo was unable to reel in the opposition, making it a lonely ride to fifth for the reigning champion. Pushing on with two laps to go, he was right behind Luca Marini, eying up fourth place. He came tantalizingly close but ultimately finished fifth, 5.771s from first.

In his final race as a #motogp rider, #andreadovizioso secured his second best finish of the season, bringing his WithU Yamaha RNF #motogp Team machine home in 12th place. Starting the race from 18th, the Italian used his experience to keep his nose clean in the early stages and made the most of the riders falling around him. Thanks to his strong rhythm, he managed to defend this position over the line to collect four points in the #motogp World Championship.

Team-mate #darrynbinder made a strong start to his #sanmarino GP, placing 13th at the end of the first few laps. However, as the race developed, the pace was ultimately too strong for Binder, who crossed the line just outside the points-paying positions in 16th.

Franco Morbidelli’s home Grand Prix ended abruptly after getting caught up in an accident for Fabio Di Giannantonio, dashing his hopes of fighting for a strong position at his home Grand Prix.  

After today’s result, Fabio Quartararo’s championship lead has reduced to 30 points, with a 211 points total, while Morbidelli remains in 19th with 26 points. Meanwhile, #andreadovizioso rounds out his Grand Prix career in a provisional 21st place with 15 points. #darrynbinder currently lies 22nd with ten points.

The #motogp paddock will return to action for a post-two-day IRTA test at the #misanoworldcircuitmarcosimoncelli on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to MotorLand Aragon in northeastern Spain for round 15 across the weekend of 16-18 September.

Fabio Quartararo - Monster Energy Yamaha #motogp, 5th

“It was a tough race, but it was actually one of the first races that I was behind another bike without a problem of the front tyre overheating or the front tyre pressure. I had more or less the same pace I had during practice. Of course, behind a rival I was struggling a bit more to make my pace than when riding alone. This fifth place is the position we deserved today. I had nothing more to give.”

Andrea Dovizioso – WithU Yamaha RNF #motogp Team, 12th

"At the end, it has been a good race. There was a big disaster in front of me at the beginning but I did a good start, I was able to get some positions because a lot of riders crashed. But at the beginning of the race I was always trying but I couldn't be fast. However, from the middle of the race until the end, I was able to be very consistent. I was very focused on that because I could keep the 12th position. At the end, I'm happy with that, I'm happy to finish here with the fans and all the #people. Thank you very much to everyone."

Darryn Binder – WithU Yamaha RNF #motogp Team, 16th

"After warm up this morning, I was confident that I will have a good race today. After the start, I managed to stay out of trouble, there was a lot going on at the first couple of laps. I really had a good pace, I felt really strong at the beginning of the race running inside the points, but unfortunately at the last 10 laps, I really started to struggle with the rear tyre and I wasn't able to maintain my position. It's sad to end the race that way but in the end I will take the positive and will work on these areas I struggled today in the test on Tuesday and Wednesday and find the settings that can help me a little bit towards the end of the race and move on to Aragon."

Franco Morbidelli – Monster Energy Yamaha #motogp, DNF

“Unfortunately, Di Giannantonio crashed right in front of me, and I couldn't avoid him. It's a pity because I think I could have done a decent race. We are getting better, and I think I could have had fun, but unfortunately this incident happened.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha #motogp, Team Director

“Today we got disappointing results. From yesterday‘s qualifying session, we knew this was going to be a tough race, starting from the third and fourth row, but we expected to have a better package. Still, Fabio put in all he had to maximize the result. This fifth place and these 11 points are important for the championship, but we definitely wanted more at a track like this. Franco‘s race was unfortunately very short. He got caught up in the busy mid-pack and a crash from another rider ended his race early. It‘s a real shame, especially because he was having a positive weekend leading up to the race. His pace and feeling improved a lot compared to the previous GP. We take this as a big positive, and hope to continue the progress in Aragón, although that‘s a very different type of circuit. But first there will be an important two days here on Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for 2023.”

Razlan Razali – WithU Yamaha RNF #motogp, Founder & Team Principal

"Well the curtain has drawn for Andrea's last dance, his retirement race in Misano with a good 12th position with four points. It was an emotional weekend leading up to the race, a fantastic celebration for everybody who knows Andrea, his former team mates, colleagues and other teams wishing him well for his retirement. So, it was a good race for Andrea and to get some points for the team.

"On the other side of the garage, while in some parts of the race Darryn was behind Andrea in 13th position, but his rear tyre problem caused him to fall back and he just got out of the points with 16th position.

"So now, life after Andrea, we will have Cal Crutchlow joining us from Aragon onwards that also saw the retirement of Andrea's Crew Chief Ramon Forcada, another individual with tremendous experience in #motogp, and we wish him all the best for his retirement as well. He will be replaced by Cal's Crew Chief Silvano Galbusera in the test team for the balance of the six races. So, post Misano with the test on Tuesday and Wednesday, we will see Darryn get to know more of the M1 better and try to get a lot of laps while Andrea will do his helmet test for a half day on Tuesday."

Gran Premio di #sanmarino e della Riviera di Rimini Results:
1. Francesco Bagnaia - Ducati Lenovo Team
2. Enea Bastianini - Gresini #racing #motogp +0.034
3. Maverick Viñales - Aprilia #racing +4.212
4. Luca Marini - Mooney VR46 #racing Team +5.283
5. #fabioquartararo - Monster Energy Yamaha #motogp +5.771
6. Aleix Espargaro - Aprilia #racing +10.230
7. Alex Rins - Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +12.496
8. Brad Binder - Red Bull KTM Factory #racing +14.661
9. Jorge Martin - Prima Pramac #racing +17.732
10. Alex Marquez - LCR Honda CASTROL +21.986
11. Miguel Oliveira - Red Bull KTM Factory #racing +23.685
12. #andreadovizioso - WithU Yamaha RNF #motogp Team +29.276
13. Raul Fernandez - Tech3 KTM Factory #racing +30.433
14. Stefan Bradl - Repsol Honda Team +31.768
15. Takaaki Nakagami - LCR Honda IDEMITSU +32.547
16. #darrynbinder - WithU Yamaha RNF #motogp Team +41.857
17. Marco Bezzecchi - Mooney VR46 #racing Team +50.559
18. Jack Miller - Ducati Lenovo Team +53.371
19. Remy Gardner - Tech3 KTM Factory #racing +56.613
20. Fabio Di Giannantonio - Gresini #racing +57.304
21. Kazuki Watanabe - Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +1 lap
NC. Franco Morbidelli - Monster Energy Yamaha #motogp +25 laps
NC. Pol Espargaro - Repsol Honda Team
NC. Johann Zarco - Prima Pramac Racing
NC. Michele Pirro - Aruba.it Racing

MotoGP 2022 Championship Standings
1. #fabioquartararo - Monster Energy Yamaha #motogp 211 points
2. Francesco Bagnaia - Ducati Lenovo Team 181 points
3. Aleix Espargaro - Aprilia #racing 178 points
4. Enea Bastianini - Gresini #racing 138 points
5. Johann Zarco - Prima Pramac #racing 125 points
6. Jack Miller - Ducati Lenovo Team 123 points
7. Brad Binder - Red Bull KTM Factory #racing 115 points
8. Maverick Viñales - Aprilia #racing 101 points
9. Alex Rins - Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 101 points
10. Jorge Martin - Prima Pramac #racing 94 points
11. Miguel Oliveira - Red Bull KTM Factory #racing 90 points
12. Luca Marini - Mooney VR46 #racing Team 82 points
13. Joan Mir - Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 77 points
14. Marco Bezzecchi - Mooney VR46 #racing Team 68 points
15. Marc Marquez - Repsol Honda Team 60 points
16. Takaaki Nakagami - LCR Honda IDEMITSU 46 points
17. Pol Espargaro - Repsol Honda Team 42 points
18. Alex Marquez - LCR Honda CASTROL 35 points
19. #francomorbidelli - Monster Energy Yamaha #motogp 26 points
20. Fabio Di Giannantonio - Gresini #racing 23 points
21. #andreadovizioso - WithU Yamaha RNF #motogp Team 15 points
22. #darrynbinder - WithU Yamaha RNF #motogp Team 10 points
23. Remy Gardner - Tech3 KTM Factory #racing 9 points
24. Raul Fernandez - Tech3 KTM Factory #racing 8 points
25. Stefan Bradl - Repsol Honda Team 2 points
26. Michele Pirro - Aruba.it #racing 0 points
27. Lorenzo Savadori - Aprilia #racing 0 points
28. Kazuki Watanabe - Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 0 points