Quartararo Shines Amidst Challenges: P5 Finish Brings Hope as Rins Battles Illness

Fabio Quartararo sees his fifth-place finish as a hopeful sign, while Rins mentions his health has deteriorated.

Massimo Meregalli expresses that witnessing their efforts pay off and spotting some hope ahead is highly encouraging.

Fabio Quartararo surpassed his qualifying time from the San Marino MotoGP, clocking in at just over 1 minute and 30 seconds to secure an unexpected fifth position during Friday's practice session at the Emilia Romagna round.

The French rider, who equaled Yamaha's top grand prix finish of the season by securing seventh place at the Misano circuit two weeks earlier, significantly improved his time from 1:31.581 on medium tires to 1:30.886 using a new medium front tire and a soft rear tire.

Quartararo trailed by 0.6 seconds, ranking just behind championship leaders Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Marc Marquez, and Enea Bastianini, all riding Ducatis.

Quartararo commented, "I believe that fifth place was the highest we could aim for today. The competitors ahead are definitely performing at a superior level."

"We gave it our all, and I put in a really strong lap. There's still room for some improvement, but the driver ahead is nearly three-tenths of a second quicker. On the bright side, we made it into Q2."

“I aimed to get my time down to the 1'30s, and I’m thrilled to have achieved that today. There’s potential for a slight improvement tomorrow, but given the many days we've already spent riding here, the room for progress is quite limited.”

"Our motorcycle lacks speed on the straight sections, making it challenging to compete, but I will put in my best effort just as I did in the San Marino GP Sprint and Race. I believe we have a good pace."

"Our aim for tomorrow is to secure a position between 6th and 9th place. We're hopeful that we can reach this objective."

However, Quartararo minimized the significance of any major advancements.

"We made some adjustments to the front setup," he said. "We switched to a different engine, though it doesn’t significantly boost performance. It just allows for a smoother ride. That’s all. Nothing particularly noteworthy."

Despite the challenges, team director Massimo Meregalli praised Quartararo’s performance, calling it “extremely gratifying for the team." He noted that they have been putting in significant effort throughout the season, including their recent work at the Misano Test.

Observing the results of our hard work and glimpsing hope on the horizon provides significant motivation.

“Fabio has been performing excellently, and we are committed to maintaining this positive trajectory in tomorrow's qualifying and Sprint events.”

This afternoon, Quartararo was the sole Yamaha rider on the circuit, as his teammate Alex Rins, who finished last in the morning session, was absent due to a fever.

"I was quite let down about not being able to ride this afternoon," Rins expressed. "Sadly, I've been unwell since yesterday."

"I was running a slight fever and hoped it would improve, but my health deteriorated today, so I chose to avoid any potential risks."

"I'm going to take a break now, and I hope that by tomorrow I'll feel well enough to return to the track."

Meregalli mentioned that the entire team supports Alex's decision to skip today's practice due to his fever. He expressed their wishes for a quick recovery so Alex can rejoin them in the garage tomorrow.

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