Yamaha

Marc Marquez has poured praise on MotoGP rookie Fabio Quartararo by calling him the best rider of the weekend at Misano and expects him to be a “tough contender” for the title in 2020.

Maverick Vinales feels he’s closing in on returning to the top step of the podium for Monster Yamaha but a surprise drop in grip during the early part of the race saw him lose too much ground to Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo at Misano.

Fabio Quartararo has described his battle for victory against Marc Marquez at the San Marino MotoGP as “the best moment of my life” having led for the majority of the Misano race only to miss out in the final-lap fight.

Marc Marquez says his qualifying incident with Valentino Rossi provided him with “extra motivation” to do his fighting on track as he moved closer to capturing the 2019 MotoGP world title with victory at Misano.

Full warm-up results at the San Marino MotoGP at Misano

Valentino Rossi opted out of explaining the controversial qualifying incident with Marc Marquez at his home grand prix in any great detail, saying his great rival “made me lose a lot of time” prior to his late lunge at turn 14.

Fabio Quartararo says a late switch to a soft front tyre during his final qualifying run didn’t pay off as he had to settle for third place ahead of the San Marino MotoGP.

Pol Espargaro admits he didn’t feel his qualifying lap to take second place for the San Marino MotoGP had been possible but poured credit on both his Red Bull KTM crew and his rival front-row starters.

Maverick Vinales says key changes to his riding style along with Monster Yamaha’s grip fixes were vital for his charge to a first pole position since the 2019 opening round.

Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez have both been summoned to a MotoGP Stewards’ hearing at Misano after the pair’s incident in Q2.

Vinales takes pole position from the KTM of Espargaro for the San Marino MotoGP at Misano. Espargaro followed Quartararo - who went on to claim the final front row place - to set his best time, which is the best qualifying performance by a KTM in MotoGP.

Full San Marino MotoGP qualifying results at Misano

Quartararo returns to the top during Free Practice 3 for the San Marino MotoGP, at Misano. The top ten riders after FP3 (combined times) receive direct access to the second and final part of qualifying.

Full San Marino MotoGP FP3 results at Misano

Maverick Viñales admitted to feeling mild surprise at his speed on Friday at Misano, a day that saw Yamaha show competitively on a hot, slick track, conditions that have been his M1’s Achilles Heel in 2019.

Valentino Rossi made a good start to his home Misano MotoGP round, taking the latest M1 parts to fourth (+0.695s) on the Friday practice timesheets.

Fastest on both days of the recent Misano test, Fabio Quartararo carried that form into the MotoGP event, with first and second places on the free practice timesheets.

Full MotoGP FP2 times at Misano

Vinales on top during Free Practice 2 for the San Marino MotoGP at Misano. Zarco has a three-place grid penalty for his collision with Oliveira at Silverstone. Oliveira has a shoulder tendon injury from the incident.

Quartararo carries his test form into the Misano race weekend by being fastest during Free Practice 1 for the San Marino MotoGP. Iannone, Rabat and Miller fell during the session.

Full Misano MotoGP FP1 results

Valentino Rossi doesn’t expect Yamaha’s new testing parts to provide instant performance jumps for the rest of the season or going into 2020 but feels the Japanese manufacturer is heading “in a good way”.

Marc Marquez says despite the frustration at losing two races in final-corner fights he knows he doesn’t need to take drastic action given his healthy MotoGP world championship lead.

With a maximum of 175 points left to fight for this season, very few predictions at the start of the 2019 MotoGP campaign would have said the riders’ title fight would be all-but finished heading to Misano but it now needs a monumental turnaround to stop Marc Marquez.