Quartararo 12th & Rins 16th as Yamaha Complete Home GP at Motegi
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP concluded Yamaha's home round at Mobility Resort Motegi with Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins finishing 12th and 16th respectively in Sunday's 24-lap Grand Prix of Japan.
GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN
RACE
Mobility Resort Motegi (Japan), 4th October 2026
12th
F. Quartararo +30.867 / 24 LAPS
16th
Á. Rins +39.228 / 24 LAPS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins wrapped up a challenging MotoGP home race for Yamaha at the Mobility Resort Motegi taking P12 and P16 in the 24-lap Grand Prix of Japan.
Quartararo started from P12 and fell back to 16th after the first three laps. He gained two positions on lap 5 due to Johann Zarco's double long-lap penalty and Fabio Di Giannantonio losing ground. The number 20 gained another place when Diogo Moreira retired from the race on lap 9. From that moment on, Quartararo circulated in P13, but following Álex Márquez's crash on lap 19 crossed the finish line in P12, 30.867s from the winner.
Rins commenced the race from P21 and after battling with the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP riders on the opening lap found himself in P22. The fight between the three Yamaha riders took several laps to settle, with Rins taking P20 by lap 11. In the end, he wrapped up the race in P16, benefiting from Álex Márquez's and Zarco's crash and making late overtakes on Di Giannantonio and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu on the final lap. He took the chequered flag 39.228s from first place.
After today's Race, Quartararo remains 15th in the championship standings with 66 points, while Rins stays 20th with 24 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 10th in the team classification with 90 points, and Yamaha hold 5th place in the constructor standings with 89 points.
The team now turns their attention to next week's Grand Prix of Indonesia at the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
"This was a difficult race. Fabio fought hard after losing positions in the opening laps, but he had to control the fuel consumption for most of the race. Despite that, he managed the situation as well as possible to take P12. Álex also kept pushing throughout the race and gained several positions, finishing in P16 despite starting from near the back of the grid. We now go straight to Indonesia, which gives us an immediate opportunity to crosscheck our findings of this weekend at a different type of circuit."
FABIO QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
"It was difficult because from lap 7 onwards I had a fuel issue. So, it was not the best. I could have gone much faster, but I had to take a lot of care with the throttle. I am happy with my riding, though, and that's the most important thing. P12 was more or less where I expected to be in this race. I think I maybe could have been in front of Brad [Binder] and Luca [Marini], but sometimes these things are part of racing."
ÁLEX RINS Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
"It wasn't a very eventful race for us. We always give it our best at every track. Today it was a bit of a question mark, riding with the hard rear tyre. In Warm Up it was not bad, and in the Race it gave more performance than the medium – which was a bit surprising. We completed the race, trying to save tyre. On the last lap, I could overtake [Fabio] Di Giannantonio and Toprak [Razgatlıoğlu] to take P16, which was the best we could do today."
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director