Monday, 7 March 2022 – 08:04 WIB
VIVA – Team Yamaha failed to shine in the opening race of the MotoGP season in Qatar as their two factory riders, Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli, finished only P9 and P11, Sunday 6 March 2022.
Quartararo, who complained about the Yamaha M1’s top speed deficit throughout the weekend, started the race from P11 and had pushed to P7 on the opening lap. The reigning world champion struggled to hold on to his position and slipped to P10.
But when Francesco Bagnaia crashed with Jorge Martin on lap 12, Quartararo moved up to P8. The French racer tried to maintain the life of his tires in the last 11 laps, but had to settle for finishing P9 after being overtaken by Johann Zarco from the Pramac team.
“We know that this race will be difficult following yesterday’s qualifying, but we are still disappointed with today’s result,” said Monster Energy Yamaha team director Massimo Meregalli on the team’s official website.
Arriving at Losail, Yamaha had high expectations reflecting on last year’s positive results where they won two victories through Maverick Vinales and Quartararo.
Meregalli later revealed that both riders had experienced sudden high tire pressures from the start of the race. “This prevents them from carrying out attacks like under normal conditions. We will investigate why this happened.”
Petronas Yamaha SRT racer Franco Morbidelli.
Photos :
- Instagram/@sepangracingteam
