Published: 20 Aug 2024
Yamaha "Worse and Worse": Quartararo's MotoGP Struggles Deepen
Yamaha’s MotoGP struggles continue to deepen as Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins finish outside the points at the Austrian GP.
Yamaha’s struggles in the 2024 MotoGP season continued unabated at the Austrian Grand Prix, with both riders finishing outside the points.
The Iwata-based manufacturer saw its challenges deepen as Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins were unable to mount any significant challenge against the frontrunners.
Marred by a long-lap penalty, 2021 World Champion Fabio Quartararo endured one of his most difficult weekends of the year, finishing a distant 18th, nearly 44 seconds behind race winner Francesco Bagnaia.
In a brief exchange with French broadcaster Canal+, he described the weekend as “one of the worst” of the season, lamenting Yamaha’s inability to find a way out of its current slump.
“We’re trying to improve, but it’s getting worse and worse, unfortunately,” Quartararo admitted. “I tried to push really hard in the first laps, but we were getting overtaken. Then, tyre pressure problems and there you go, the result is disastrous.”
Returning to MotoGP after a lengthy absence due to injury, Alex Rins fared little better, finishing 16th and ‘just’ 37 seconds adrift of the race leader.
Despite his challenges, Rins expressed a measure of pride in completing his first race since his Dutch TT high-side incident, noting the difficulty of managing rear lifting issues that plagued him throughout the weekend.
“It was really tough to finish the race,” the Spaniard said. “The hot conditions and my struggles with the bike made it difficult to keep the rear tyre on the tarmac, which led to some front brake locking.”
Yamaha’s team director, Massimo Meregalli, acknowledged the team’s ongoing struggles, admitting that the Austrian Grand Prix was “a race day to forget” and a mirror image of their lackluster performance in the sprint race.
“We didn’t expect such a difficult weekend,” Meregalli said. “Fabio had a good start but couldn’t defend his position, and the long-lap penalty ended his chances of fighting for points.”
“Alex did a good job, especially considering his condition, but we need to understand what is causing this poor performance.”
With the Aragon Grand Prix on the horizon in two weeks, Yamaha’s focus now shifts to a critical private test in Misano, where both Quartararo and Rins will have the opportunity to evaluate new components for the M1.
The team hopes the test will yield insights that could be immediately applied to their setup for Aragon. As Meregalli put it, “We are going to evaluate different components, and if the results are good, we are aiming to bring the parts straight to Aragon.”
