Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo delivered a cool and calm display in a scorching Germany, taking victory at this weekend’s Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, extending his championship lead to 34 points.
Defending champion Fabio Quartararo delivered a dominant display at the Sachsenring this weekend, storming to a commanding victory, and Yamaha’s first at the German venue since Valentino Rossi’s victory in 2009.
Launching from the middle of the front row, the Frenchman immediately took the lead, as he looked to take control of the race early on. Overcoming the attack from Francesco Bagnaia on lap two, the #20 picked up the pace, forcing his chasing rival into a crash on lap four, handing the Yamaha rider a one-second advantage.
Continuing to open the gap over compatriot Johann Zarco to over two seconds, the rider from Nice didn’t roll off. Stamping his authority on proceedings as he extended his lead to five seconds in the second half of the race, the 2021 champion eventually crossed the line to secure his third win of the season.
Team-mate Franco Morbidelli endured a tough German weekend. The Roman started the Grand Prix in 20th position and had worked his way towards the points in the opening half of the race. Keeping a cool head in what was a race of attrition, the factory Yamaha rider passed Andrea Dovizioso for 13th place, where he ultimately finished the 30-lap race.
WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team’s Andrea Dovizioso enjoyed a stronger Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. The former MotoGP race winner secured two further points for his championship quest after making progress in Sunday afternoon’s encounter. Starting from 19th, the experienced Italian played the long game, picking off his opponents to eventually finish in 14th position.
Darryn Binder’s strong run of form came to an end this weekend as he crashed out of the Grand Prix on lap five.
25 World Championship points sees Quartararo extend his championship lead over Aleix Espargaro to 34 points, while Franco Morbidelli lies 19th with a 25 points total. WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team duo Darryn Binder and Andrea Dovizioso sit in 21st and 22nd places respectively, with 10 points apiece.
The MotoGP paddock heads to The Netherlands this week, as round 11 of the FIM MotoGP World Championship takes place in Assen from the 24th-26th June.
Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, 1st
“I felt ill the entire weekend, but the most important thing is that we finished it in a good way. I was super consistent throughout the race, first controlling the gap to Johann, and then finishing the race by a big distance is okay. It’s a step forward for our confidence in the race. It was 30 laps, I couldn’t make a mistake, and I had to control the pace and the rear tyre. It was a great race in many ways!”
Franco Morbidelli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, 13th
“We made some good improvements this weekend, but still the qualifying was the thing that ruined our race. In the race I was able to make up some positions. But being in a group with these temperatures, it’s difficult to overtake and make up many positions. Anyway, I was close to the fight for the top 10, which at the moment is a good result for us. First of all, we need to reach our first top 10, and we need to build up from there.”
Andrea Dovizioso – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team, 14th
“I was sick these last two days, so I didn’t expect a lot, also because Sachsenring is one of the most demanding tracks as you have to stay always on the left side of the bike for a long time. But at the end, I was quite consistent. I was struggling a bit with the front pressure, I think something strange happened there, because from the first lap to the last lap the pressure increased a lot, too much. We have to understand now, if this is coming from our garage and if we have to do something different or if it’s coming from the tyre. Anyway, I wanted to fight with Franky (Morbidelli), in the end I couldn’t stay with him, but I was very close, so it was ok.”
Darryn Binder – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team, DNF
“Luckily I’m all good. It started off quite alright, I got quite a good jump off the line, but unfortunately, the first lap was a bit messy. I was going wide in turn three and ended up back in 23rd. Lap by lap I was picking up the guys one at a time, I think I came back to 18th in lap five and I finally got a bit of breathing room to push a bit to catch up to the guys in front of me. I was giving it a little bit of a push, but unfortunately, I just lost the front into the last corner and went down.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director
“This is another superb win for us with Fabio! This time we did it at a circuit where in the last few years we were not able to win, and Fabio wasn‘t even feeling 100% fit. The manner in which he controlled the race shows what he is capable of. He put his rivals under pressure to keep up at the start, and that paid off. The team did a great job! As for Franky, he was far down the grid, and at the Sachsenring it‘s very difficult to overtake, so we knew this race was going to be difficult for him. To start from 20th place and end it with some championship points is really not that bad. It’s clear that we need to make sure his qualifying improves for the other races. We have one more round to go before the summer break. We are highly motivated to give it our all in Assen next week.”
Razlan Razali – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team, Founder & Team Principal
“Under an extremely hot condition, we saw Darryn crashing out after a few laps. He made a good start but then he fell back and recovered and was in a good position. However, after a couple of laps he crashed, which was a rookie error made. With Andrea, he was not feeling very well hence not in the best condition, but he persevered and fought through the race to finish 14th. We have one more race before the summer break in Assen next week. It will be in a cooler condition and we will do the best we can to support our riders to finish the first half of the season on a positive note.”
MotoGP Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Results:
- Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
- Johann Zarco – Prima Pramac Racing +4.939
- Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team +8.372
- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing +9.113
- Luca Marini – Mooney VR46 Racing Team +11.679
- Jorge Martin – Prima Pramac Racing +13.164
- Brad Binder – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +15.405
- Fabio Di Giannantonio – Gresini Racing MotoGP +15.851
- Miguel Oliveira – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +19.740
- Enea Bastianini – Gresini Racing MotoGP +21.611
- Marco Bezzecchi – Mooney VR46 Racing Team +23.175
- Raul Fernandez – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing +26.548
- Franco Morbidelli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +29.014
- Andrea Dovizioso – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team +30.680
- Remy Gardner – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing +30.812
- Stefan Bradl – Repsol Honda Team +52.040
- Pol Espargaro – Repsol Honda Team 8 laps
- Maverick Viñales – Aprilia Racing 11 laps
- Alex Marquez – LCR Honda CASTROL 24 laps
- Takaaki Nakagami – LCR Honda IDEMITSU 24 laps
- Darryn Binder – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 25 laps
- Joan Mir – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 27 laps
- Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team 27 laps
MotoGP 2022 World Championship Standings:
- Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 172 points
- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing 138 points
- Johann Zarco – Prima Pramac Racing 111 points
- Enea Bastianini – Gresini Racing MotoGP 100 points
- Brad Binder – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 82 points
- Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati Lenovo Team 81 points
- Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team 81 points
- Alex Rins – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 69 points
- Joan Mir – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 69 points
- Miguel Oliveira – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 64 points
- Jorge Martin – Prima Pramac Racing 61 points
- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team 60 points
- Luca Marini – Mooney VR46 Racing Team 52 points
- Maverick Viñales – Aprilia Racing 46 points
- Pol Espargaro – Repsol Honda Team 40 points
- Takaaki Nakagami – LCR Honda IDEMITSU 38 points
- Marco Bezzecchi – Mooney VR46 Racing Team 35 points
- Alex Marquez – LCR Honda CASTROL 26 points
- Franco Morbidelli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 25 points
- Fabio Di Giannantonio – Gresini Racing MotoGP 16 points
- Darryn Binder – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 10 points
- Andrea Dovizioso – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 10 points
- Remy Gardner – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 9 points
- Raul Fernandez – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 5 points
- Michele Pirro – Aruba.it Racing 0 points
- Stefan Bradl – Repsol Honda Team 0 points
27. Lorenzo Savadori – Aprilia Racing 0 points
