PETRONAS Yamaha SRT head to San Marino GP with perfect preparation
PETRONAS Yamaha SRT duo Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli hoping test at Misano will translate into strong results at San Marino GP
San Marino GP – 10 September 2019
Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli are heading into this weekend’s Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini hoping for a strong start to the weekend, after the PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team duo ended a pre-race test at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli two weeks ago in first and third respectively.
Topping the test at Misano by nearly half a second a fortnight ago, Quartararo goes into the weekend bursting with confidence and ready to make his mark in Sunday’s race. Unfortunately failing to finish last time out at Silverstone, he’s not only planning on making amends in Misano but knows that he’s got the pace and the outright speed to challenge for the podium again.
Morbidelli is also going into his home race confident that he can deliver a strong result. Using the test to resolve some of the small niggles with his set-up he had at Silverstone last time out, he knows that with a more comfortable feeling from his bike he too can be on track for one of his best results of the season so far as he lines up for what will be his 100th Grand Prix race.
Action gets underway at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on Friday 13th September with free practice at 0955 local time (1555 Malaysian time), ahead of Sunday 15th September’s San Marino Grand Prix.
Franco Morbidelli:
“Misano is a very special track for me, because it’s my real home race. I can see the track from my house, I train a lot at it and I really like riding it. There are always a lot of my friends and family who come to the race, and it’s always good to have them to help you relax or get you pumped-up at the right moment. It’s really positive to head there off the back of two great test days at Misano. We’re well-placed for a strong result after the work we did on the bike’s set-up, but we will see what level of grip and what track conditions we find this weekend. We can still improve in the fast corners like turns three and 11, so our set-up isn’t quite 100% ready to race just yet. We have plenty of time in practice and we know what we want to improve, so we’re hoping for a productive Friday to get us where we want to be.”
Fabio Quartararo:
“I think we have a good set-up with the bike after completing more than 150 laps in the Misano test so I’m confident that we can be strong from FP1. It was really beneficial to get those two days testing in advance of the race; it’s one of the first times I’ve been able to do that mid-season. We’ve already got very good pace and we know that we’re very strong in qualifying, so if we can just improve our race pace a little bit then I know we can be really well prepared for the final laps of the race. The circuit is pretty small, but it’s got a bit of everything which is good for us and our bike.”