PETRONAS Yamaha SRT riders to grace the Catalan GP with high hopes

Michelle Liew

September 24, 2020

PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli will be gearing up for the final round in the September triple header- the Catalan GP.

Photo credits: PETRONAS Yamaha SRT

After a near-miss for Quartararo, the Frenchman is aiming to bounce back and improve his points a the Gran Premi de Catalunya. Quartararo has good form at the circuit, after converting his pole position last year to a second-place finish.

Team-mate Morbidelli, who continues to recover from a stomach bug, will be aiming to go into the eighth round of 2020 fighting fit and challenging for another podium finish. The Italian has moved up into fifth in the championship standings and will be looking to further close the gap to those ahead of him.

The Gran Premi de Catalunya will get underway for the PETRONAS Yamaha SRT riders on Friday with Free Practice 1 at 9.55 am local time (3.55 pm MYT). Sunday’s 24-lap race will get underway at 3 pm local time (9 pm MYT), one hour later than usual.

Fabio Quartararo (PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team)

“It’s great to have another race weekend! Barcelona is a track that I love. One that I’m really looking forward to going to because I feel that we can manage to get a really good result there. It’s true it has a one kilometre long straight, so we will have to work on a good setup for it. Last year our top speed wasn’t so good there, but we were still able to finish on the podium, so it means we are strong in the other parts of the track. Our pace there can be good, we know that we can be competitive and, of course, I will give my best!”

Franco Morbidelli (PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team)

“I am happy to face the Catalan GP after the two races at Misano. I have stayed at home trying to relax and recover, to make sure I am 100% this weekend in Barcelona. There are a lot of positives from the Misano races to take with us to the race in Barcelona, where we will try to arrive well prepared and ready to attack. The Barcelona-Catalunya circuit is a historical track, with many MotoGP stories that have happened there. The layout is nice, flowy and challenging. In my opinion, it’s one of the most beautiful tracks in the calendar and I usually do quite well there. So I am looking forward to riding there again.”