Massimo Meregalli, Director of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, admitted the difficulties faced by the team in the main race of the Qatar GP, despite the good starting positions won by Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins.
‘It was a difficult race. We had hoped to make good use of our grid positions – third and ninth – but Fabio and Álex were both blocked by other drivers on the opening lap, which was a shame. They fought hard, doing their best to keep their rivals at bay, and managed well while running in a large group,’ analysed the Italian.
‘Fabio was defending his position as best he could. At the end of the race, he created a gap between himself and Acosta, which consolidated his position. Álex was hit in the arm by a stone on lap 7. He was in pain, which certainly didn’t help, but he reacted. He was fighting the whole race with Bastianini and Ogura, and managed to overtake Ai Ogura and Brad Binder on the last lap,’ explained Meregalli.
‘All in all, it wasn’t an easy weekend, but we’ll keep striving to maintain a positive trajectory,’ concluded the Yamaha team director.