Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

Difficult San Marino Sprint for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Álex Rins pushed through a challenging Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera Sprint to take 19th place. Fabio Quartararo showed promising pace in the opening stages before an early crash relegated him to 21st at the finish.

GRAND PRIX OF SAN MARINO

SPRINT

Misano Adriatico (Italy), 12th September 2026

19th

Á. Rins
+21.740 / 13 LAPS

21st

F. Quartararo
+24.419 / 13 LAPS

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Álex Rins and Fabio Quartararo faced a difficult 13-lap Sprint at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli today. Rins fought to make progress despite finding himself at the back of the field in the opening laps and took P19. Quartararo's early charge through the pack was interrupted by a crash on lap 3. He rejoined the race to take the chequered flag in P21.

Rins started from P20 and dropped to the rear of the field during the early stages of the Sprint. He gained a position when his teammate crashed and passed Joan Mir on lap 6 to move up to 19th place. In the closing stages, the Spaniard attempted to close the gap to Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Jack Miller, who were battling directly ahead of him, but was unable to join the fight for P17. Rins crossed the finish line in P19, 21.740s from the race winner.

Quartararo made a strong launch from P13 and rose as high as eleventh on the opening lap. The Frenchman was showing encouraging pace and attempted to overtake Diogo Moreira at Turn 14 on lap 3 but lost the front while making the move and suffered a slow crash. Quartararo quickly remounted and rejoined the Sprint, though he had fallen to the back of the field with a significant gap to the riders ahead. He persevered to the chequered flag and finished in P21, 24.419s from first place.

After today's Sprint, Quartararo remains 15th in the championship standings with 55 points, while Rins stays 20th with 24 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are 10th in the team classification with 79 points, and Yamaha hold 5th place in the constructor standings with 78 points.

Tomorrow, the teammates will be back in action for Warm Up, held from 09:40-09:50 (GMT+2), and the 27-lap Race, which starts at 14:00.

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MASSIMO MEREGALLI
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

"It was a difficult Sprint for us today. Fabio made a step this morning and almost got into Q2, missing out by 0.222s. So, he commenced from P13 in the Sprint, made a good start, and his pace was quite good. There was, for sure, an opportunity for more if he hadn't crashed when overtaking [Diogo] Moreira. Álex had a tougher opening lap and found himself at the back of the field. We will analyse it carefully as we prepare for tomorrow's Race."

ÁLEX RINS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"Tomorrow's Race is going to be really tough with double the laps, because today we suffered a bit in the Sprint. I was there with Toprak [Razgatlıoğlu] and [Jack] Miller, but it was difficult to brake later and get the traction. Our target for tomorrow is to be in the points. We will try our best!"

FABIO QUARTARARO
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

"With Diogo [Moreira] on the straights, we were playing like a yoyo: he was pulling away, I was trying to catch him again. In Turn 11, I went super, super quick, and I braked late in Turn 12, so I was close, but the problem was that we have little support from the rear when trying to stop. It was too late to stay behind him, so I had to go, and my front tyre locked. I tried to maximise the corner, but in the end I did it too much, because I crashed. Unfortunately, I didn't stay on my wheels."