MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP GEAR UP FOR MOTOGP ROUND 2 IN ARGENTINA
Termas de Río Hondo (Argentina)
Straight after the Portuguese GP, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team packed their YZR-M1s and flew them across the Atlantic Ocean to get back into action at the Autodromo do Termas de Río Hondo for the Gran Premio de la República Argentina this weekend.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli have safely arrived in Argentina and are ready to battle for points again. Having had a first experience with the new GP weekend format, the duo are looking forward to making a comeback at the Autodromo do Termas de Río Hondo and climb the leader board.
Though he didn’t end the first Sprint and Race of the season in as high a position as he would have liked, Quartararo took the positives from the first GP and is keen to show good race pace again this weekend in Argentina.
The Frenchman only rode at the Termas track twice before in the premier class, both times securing eighth place in the race. He is keen to improve on this result this weekend to make up some places in the overall rankings. El Diablo is currently 10th in the championship standings.
Morbidelli finished both the first-ever Sprint and the Portuguese GP race in P14. The Italian is pleased that the back-to-back opening MotoGP rounds offer a chance for him to battle more towards the front this Saturday and Sunday. He is currently in 17th place in the overall standings.
Morbido is hugely popular in Latin America, thanks to his Brazilian roots. He can expect the support of the local fans, who will be cheering him on this weekend. The number-21 rider aims to do them proud like he did in 2017 when he secured the victory in the Moto2 class.
The 4.8km long Termas de Río Hondo circuit was added to the MotoGP calendar in 2014. A devastating fire in February 2021 destroyed a large part of the paddock, but it has been rebuilt since then. With an exciting lay-out that includes a mixture of fast corners (five left, nine right) and a 1076m longest straight, the fans can be assured that they will see plenty of racing and overtaking action in Argentina again.
Those who are wondering “What are the key points to a hot lap at the Termas track?” can watch our latest eSport video.
The Grand Prix of Argentina is held in the GMT -3 time zone. P1 will take place on Friday from 10:45 – 11:30 local track time, followed by P2 from 15:00 – 16:00. On Saturday, FP will be held from 10:10 – 10:40, the qualifying sessions from 10:50 – 11:30, and the Sprint starts at 15:00. On Sunday, Warm Up is held from 09:45 – 09:55, and the race starts at 14:00.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
We travelled to the Termas de Río Hondo circuit immediately after the Portuguese GP. It was a long journey after the first round, but we are excited to be here and to be racing again this weekend. Last week‘s results show we have work to do, so this will be a busy week for us. In Portimao we were able to prepare the set-up for the Sprint and the Race already during the test. Here it will be trickier with the new GP weekend format. We have to make the most of every single session, especially P2. It’s the session that will likely be the most similar to the Sprint and the Race in terms of conditions. This is important for the tyre choice and, furthermore, P2 grants access into Q2. We’ll be very focused on improving our qualifying, because the outcome of both the Sprint and Race highly depends on the starting position. The local fans have a lot of passion for motorsport, so we know they will enjoy the extra racing action that the Sprint provides on Saturday, and we look forward to seeing them enjoy the show.
FABIO QUARTARARO
Considering my position after the opening lap of the Portuguese race, I did a pretty good job getting eighth place and still scoring points. With no points in the Sprint, we are already a bit behind in the standings – but the season is still very long, and we already have an opportunity to climb up in the rankings this weekend! Termas is not my best track, but I think we can do a good job. We know there‘s not a lot of grip here though, so we have to work around that.
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
The positive thing about opening the season with back-to-back GP weekends is that we immediately have another chance to improve at the next track. Last year‘s tyre puncture in the Argentina GP ended my race early. It‘s nice that this year we have a Sprint and a Race, so in a way I can make up for it by racing twice this year. We are working hard on finding something to improve our performance level.
