Maverick Vinales has confirmed he is fully fit following his heavy off after being taken out by Franco Morbidelli on the final lap of the Argentina MotoGP last time out but accepts he must give his all to recover lost ground in the championship.
Franco Morbidelli heads to the Americas MotoGP aiming to replicate his weekend in Argentina - barring the last half-a-lap. The Petronas Yamaha SRT rider's late collision with Maverick Vinales took them both out of the fight for sixth.
A bittersweet final lap for Yamaha at the Argentina MotoGP saw Valentino Rossi snatch second position from Andrea Dovizioso, but the celebrations were muted when Franco Morbidelli ran into the back of Maverick Vinales with just a few corners to go.
On paper, Fabio Quartararo is the least qualified of the 2019 MotoGP rookies, with only a single grand prix victory from four podiums in the Moto3 and Moto2 classes.
The new Petronas Yamaha Sepang team heads to its first MotoGP event, in Qatar this weekend, with riders Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo buoyed by recent testing results at the same Losail circuit.
Petronas Yamaha MotoGP team-mates Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo look set to make their Endurance World Championship debut at the end of this year.
Valentino Rossi concedes the pace of both VR46 academy riders Franco Morbidelli and Francesco Bagnaia at the Sepang test has worried him but he is also delighted to see his setup producing results earlier than expected.
Franco Morbidelli says racing against Valentino Rossi in MotoGP “is an extreme source of motivation” while he was impressed by the pace produced by rookie and fellow VR46 academy graduate Francesco Bagnaia at the Sepang test.
This is the livery with which the new Petronas Yamaha Sepang team will make its MotoGP race debut during the 2019 season. Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo helped unveil the colours of Malaysia's first MotoGP team during a special ceremony at the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
Sepang CEO Razlan Razali describes the new Petronas Yamaha MotoGP team as an ‘ambitious underdog’ at its 2019 launch to mark a new era for the Malaysian squad.
The full exclusive interview with Sepang CEO Razlan Razali discussing the 2019 debut of the new Petronas Yamaha MotoGP team, plus the revised Moto2 and Moto3 line-up and MotoE entry with Bradley Smith… Crash.net:
With Hafizh Syahrin preparing for the second year of what is hoped will be a long relationship with Tech3, the new Petronas Yamaha team has its sights set on another young Malaysian to become its first home MotoGP rider.
Franco Morbidelli has been encouraged by new crew chief Ramon Forcada’s work with the Petronas Yamaha team and is “very curious to see how we can translate our work onto the track”.
Franco Morbidelli completed a promising pair of debut MotoGP tests for the new Petronas Yamaha Sepang team with sixth place (+0.173s) during the final outing of the year at Jerez.
Franco Morbidelli says adjusting and improving on the Petronas Yamaha SRT will be “a never-ending process” as he continues to impress with instant speed on the opening day of the Jerez MotoGP winter test.
Ahead of this weekend's Japanese MotoGP, Franco Morbidelli, Takaaki Nakagami and Jorge Martin tried their hand at some Sumo wrestling in Tokyo… with predictably amusing results!
Hafizh Syahrin has produced his best MotoGP race performance since the German round to take 12 th place for Monster Yamaha Tech 3 and kick-start his charge against Franco Morbidelli for the top rookie honour.
As if it wasn't already a tough enough day for Yamaha, Maverick Vinales - along with Honda's Franco Morbidelli - has now been handed a grid penalty for Sunday's Aragon MotoGP.
Franco Morbidelli, whose tumbling bike caused Tito Rabat's multiple leg fractures in FP4 at Silverstone, has described the treacherous conditions faced at the end of the Hangar Straight as 'hell'.