Yamaha ‘will approach Assen with a clean slate’

With Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli finishing between 10th and 13th in the last two rounds, Monster Yamaha will approach this weekend’s Assen MotoGP ‘with a clean slate’.

Peter McLaren

21 Jun 2023

Fabio Quartararo, MotoGP sprint race, German MotoGP, 17 June

The Dutch round was the start of Quartararo’s title woes one year ago.

Leading the standings, the Frenchman suffered his first DNF of the season after a dramatic race in which he fell after colliding with Aleix Espargaro, then later highsided due to bike damage.

Salt was rubbed in the wound when he then received a controversial long lap penalty for the next round at Silverstone, for the Espargaro contact.

Quartararo returns just eighth in this year’s world championship standings, having been slower than 2022 at the past three GPs in Le Mans (7th), Mugello (11th) and Sachsenring (13th).

“The tyre gamble in Sachsenring didn‘t pay off, but now we know,” said Quartararo, who joined only Aleix Espargaro in trying the soft rear.

"Though points-wise the German GP wasn‘t a very successful race weekend, we did learn from it, and that‘s also worth something.

“Last year things didn‘t go to plan in Assen. But it‘s still one of my favourite circuits, so I will do my best as always to get a good result.”

Team Director Massimo Meregalli added: “After two difficult race weekends, we will approach Assen with a clean slate. Assen is a circuit both our riders really like, which is good because we want to give one final push before the summer break.

“So far, the weather forecasts predict a hot but mostly dry Dutch GP. This would be ideal for us, because it allows us to use the available track time to the fullest and really get to work.”

Quartararo's team-mate Franco Morbidelli, the top Yamaha across the line in twelfth at Sachsenring, emphasised that qualifying woes continue to hurt their chances in the races.

"Our race pace is pretty decent. It‘s the Friday time attack [for direct Qualifying 2 access] that‘s the main thing we need to fix. So, we‘ll have to work hard and make as much progress as possible before the summer break," said the Italian.

Morbidelli's Yamaha future is set to be decided around the Assen weekend. Although currently twelfth in the world championship, he is only seven points behind Quartararo.