The Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalunya was marked by drama, with two red flags and multiple restarts reducing the race to a tense 12‑lap sprint. Through the chaos, Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins kept their composure to bring home points for Yamaha.
Quartararo, who originally finished seventh, was promoted to P5 after tyre‑pressure penalties hit five riders. Rins, who crossed the line in 11th, was among those penalized and dropped to P14.
Quartararo made a lightning start from 13th on the grid, surging to fourth on the opening lap before settling into a defensive rhythm. He admitted the day was mentally tough: “I try to avoid looking at the TV screens in these situations, but when you cross Turn 10 and see Álex [Marquez] on the ground like that, you don’t feel like restarting the race. I had goosebumps: the tyre and bike flying… That’s not easy, but it’s part of our job.”
Despite the tension, he held firm, finishing 4.876s off the winner and securing fifth in the revised results.
Rins, starting 17th, fought his way into the midfield battle and came within 0.077s of Diogo Moreira. But the penalty pushed him down the order. He admitted the incidents weighed heavily on him:
“When I saw Álex [Marquez] on the floor, my heart broke. I was really affected. I was trying to breathe a lot in the box, because it’s not nice to see a mate on the floor. In the end, we’re all humans, so it was really tough.”
Team Director Massimo Meregalli praised both riders’ resilience: “A double restart is always tense, but Fabio and Álex showed professionalism. Though they’re not involved, it takes a special kind of mindset to push 100% after seeing such incidents happen. Still, they were able to keep their focus and finish this difficult weekend with the best results possible.”
With today’s results, Quartararo climbs to 13th in the championship standings with 37 points, while Rins remains 19th with 9 points. Yamaha sits ninth in the team standings and fifth among constructors. The squad returns to the Circuit de Barcelona‑Catalunya tomorrow for a one‑day IRTA Test, aiming to build on the progress made in Catalunya.