Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo made his Yamaha M1 as wide as possible during today’s TT Assen MotoGP Race. He was riding on the limit and doing anything in his power to maintain his position, crossing the finish line in 12th place. Teammate Álex Rins, on the other hand, suffered an unlucky highside on the first lap that ended his challenge prematurely.
Quartararo started from P12 and completed the opening lap in 13th place. With the level of grip being lower on the Sunday, the Frenchman gradually upped the pace. He came under pressure from Miguel Oliveira early on, and that continued to be a theme until Oliveira ran wide with 10 laps to go. It afforded El Diablo some breathing space. He set his sights on Jack Miller ahead of him but was never quite able to get close enough to put in an overtake. As Pedro Acosta crashed out on the last lap, Quartararo ended the Race in 12th place, 24.057s from first.
Rins had a good start from P15 but experienced difficulties under braking. An initial wobble resulted in a big highside in Turn 1. The Spaniard was sat at the sideline of the track for a while to catch his breath and was later taken to the medical centre for a further check-up.
From the first medical findings it seems that Rins has a fracture in his right foot and a severe bruise on his right wrist. He will now fly immediately to Madrid to undergo further medical tests. An updated medical bulletin will be issued as soon as his doctor has examined Rins in Madrid. His participation in next weekend’s German GP is evidently still TBC.
Today’s results see Quartararo in joint 12th place in the overall standings with 39 points. Rins is in joint 20th position with 8 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP keep their 9th place in the team championship with now 47 points, and Yamaha hold onto 4th position in the constructor’s championship with 43 points.
The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back in action next week at the Sachsenring in Germany for the Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland held from 5-7 July.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
Team Director
It’s been a difficult Race today at the TT Assen. We knew, realistically speaking, that our starting positions would make it tough to make much progress. Fabio did well to defend his place during the first half of the Race, but we can’t be satisfied with 12th position and need to keep working. Álex was very unlucky to have such a big crash in the first corner, especially after a decent start. The punishment didn’t fit the crime. He hurt his right hand and foot and will return to Madrid to consult his doctor. We are lucky that the injury is not worse, but he will likely still need to have surgery. We will release a further update as soon as we have more information.
FABIO QUARTARARO
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
I expected to do better at the beginning, especially in the first laps. With the softs, the grip was bad. During all the Race, the grip was much less than I expected. I couldn’t really push. Then at the end, I was feeling a bit better from mid-race onwards, but the pace was already too slow. Let’s see if we can improve at the Sachsenring.
ÁLEX RINS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
I had a very hard crash at the start. I’m already on my way to Madrid, where I will undergo further medical checks to understand the severity of the injuries in my right wrist and right foot. I hope to have updates soon.
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