Quartararo Takes Tough Top 8 Finish at 2022 British MotoGP

It was a challenging weekend for the ENEOS-sponsored Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team at Silverstone Circuit but championship points leader, Fabio Quartararo, made the best of a difficult race, completing his long-lap penalty on lap 4 following an incident of the Dutch GP. He took the checkered flag in eighth place while teammate Franco Morbidelli worked his way up from P20 to complete the race in P15.

Starting from P4 on the grid, Quartararo moved into second place, catching Johann Zarco and continued to tail him through the first three laps. The highly-anticipated long-lap penalty took place on lap 4, which was executed flawlessly, but dropped him down three positions.

Back into the race, El Diablo took fourth again when Zarco crashed out, but found himself in a difficult situation with the top three riders battling among themselves. Quartararo tried to defend his position and took his Yamaha as wide as he possibly could, using the bike’s high-corner speed to his advantage. He ultimately finished eighth, 3.819sec from first.

“It was hard to enjoy this race because I was suffering so much and couldn’t have fun,” said Quartararo. “After the long-lap penalty, I was behind four riders and the rear tire overheated, causing performance to suffer, which really affected the rest of our race.”

Morbidelli completed his opening lap in 16th, and he maintained a steady pace to gradually move up the order in the pack.

Reaching 13th with a third of the race completed, he battled against VR46 Academy teammates Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini, where he lost a position. However, another rider crashed out, giving him 13th place again, which he held until the final stages when the tire performance dropped. Morbidelli finished 15th, 16.359sec from first.

“We made some progress this weekend,” Morbidelli said. “I had a good start and managed to maintain a decent pace. The tires weren’t the best choice, so I focused on riding and the bike’s settings.”

Quartararo’s championship lead increased to 22 points with 180 total points; Morbidelli remains 19th with 26 points. Yamaha remains second in the manufacturer standings with 180 points and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are now third in the team championship with 206 points.

NEXT RACE

Quartararo and Morbidelli head to Spielberg, Austria for Round 13 on August 19-21, 2022.