Franco Morbidelli | Photo credits: MotoGP
It was a splendid week for PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team’s Franco Morbidelli as the Italian took his first MotoGP race win in front of his hometown fans at Misano in the San Marino GP. Teammate Fabio Quartararo, on the other hand, crashed out in an unfortunate circumstance.
Morbidelli kickstarted the race well and immediately took on the race lead. Although there were several attempts to outshine him, Morbidelli was well in control of his Yamaha. Within 27 laps, Morbidelli managed to make it past the chequered flag first, taking his first premier class win in front of his home fans – at the first event of the year that has included a fan presence. He now moves to seventh in the World Championship standings.
However, things took a turn for Quartararo. The Frenchman suffered a crash at Turn 4 on lap eight. After a quick pit stop to check the bike on lap 19, he ended his run with another crash. Quartararo sits at second place in the riders’ standings. Despite that, PETRONAS Yamaha SRT is still leading the teams’ championship.
“This weekend was the best so far for PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team, as a collective. It was a fantastic win for Franco: very well deserved, especially considering his crash in the first Austrian race. Doing it at his home Grand Prix as well is amazing. It was unfortunate for Fabio; he crashed while trying to catch the front-runners. He is still second in the championship, so it’s not too bad and I’m sure he’ll come back stronger next week.”
“I feel like this has been a magical week for me. Everything had been going well, so going into today I was thinking that maybe something good would be possible. Turns out, it was something great! I have never won a World Championship race at home before, so to do it in MotoGP is the greatest achievement in my life. I’m really proud to be able to say that”
“I want to say thanks to all the people that work with me, it isn’t just me. This win is a result of teamwork. Right now I’m just so proud of what we have achieved, not just today but in general. Seven years ago I was racing here with a stock 600, now I’m winning a MotoGP race. It’s just amazing, especially as it’s the first race with a crowd this year. It felt great to be able to salute the crowd after the race. We do this for them, so to celebrate with them was such a great feeling.”
“First of all, I want to congratulate Franco because he really deserved the win today. It was a really tough race for me but it is what it is, I will learn from it. I made a mistake: I was trying too hard to overtake Maverick [Viñales] and it overheated the tyre. I made the move and was the correct move to make, but Jack [Miller] was in front and I wanted to catch him as well but too quickly. Then, I braked too late and lost the front end. We are struggling to overtake with our bike, which is something we need to work on. Of course, I am disappointed, as we had the speed to fight at the front, but we learn from the experience and I won’t make the same mistake next weekend. We have seen five different winners in six races and it is one of the closest championships we’ve had, so I’m going to continue to give my best and try to make it ours.”