Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli back in action this weekend at San Marino GP to start the second triple-header of the season
After a two week break, PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team, with riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli, head to Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the San Marino GP, the first event in another MotoGP triple-header, with two races at the Italian track and one in Barcelona.
Despite a disappointing result last time out, Quartararo arrives at the sixth round of the year at the top of the championship standings, with the team also holding station at the top of the team’s championship. The Frenchman is looking to bounce back from the Styrian GP with a podium finish, which he achieved at the Misano circuit last year, and to increase his MotoGP points lead once again.
Team-mate Morbidelli will be heading into the first of two home races, as the next two weekends see the paddock stay in Misano for back-to-back events. The Italian is hoping to be able to capitalise on the ‘home advantage’ that comes from having raced on the circuit for many years. The Yamaha YZR-M1 rider will also be able to enjoy having a small amount of home fans present at the event as well.
The weekend’s track action will begin for the PETRONAS Yamaha SRT duo at 9.55am local time (3.55pm MYT) on Friday with Free Practice 1. Sunday’s 27-lap MotoGP race will commence at 2pm local time (8pm MYT).
| Fabio Quartararo |
Misano is one of my favourite circuits because it has a little bit of everything: slow corners, fast corners and switching from left to right. I’m curious to see how it works with the new asphalt and if the conditions will have changed a lot since last year. It is a very beautiful circuit. It also has my favourite corner from the whole calendar, Curvone. On the back straight you arrive in sixth gear, just roll off, use the brakes a little bit and then full gas as soon as possible. It’s a great corner and I can’t wait to be riding there this weekend. We fought for the win until the last lap for the first time last year, so we will try to repeat this over the next two Sundays.
We need to return to the podium in these next races and achieve a big number of points at a circuit that suits our bike better. The target is to get back the feeling on the bike we had in the first two races in Jerez.
| Franco Morbidelli |
Misano is my home track and so, of course, I like it a lot because of this! The layout is quite tricky because originally you used to ride it in the opposite direction. This has created some unique characteristics and because of this it is very tricky. It’s also quite twisty and narrow. These things also make it a great circuit to ride: I love it! It’s a great feeling to have two races coming up at my home circuit and I’m really looking forward to them. In addition, we will have for the first time this season, some fans in the grandstands! That’s great news, because it means that is a first small step to normality. It will be great – especially for the Italian riders – to have the public cheering again for us. I hope we can give a good show and a good result!
