PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team have hit their stride in recent weeks, and after their maiden podium last time out they look to keep their run going at the Dutch GP with riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli.
Quartararo has great memories of Assen, as in past visits he has twice finished in second place there. The first occasion was during his debut season in the World Championship in 2015 – where competing in the Moto3 class – the second, last year in Moto2. Fresh off his brilliant result in Barcelona, the PETRONAS Yamaha SRT rider heads to the Netherlands in very good form and ready to take further good results. The Frenchman – seventh in the overall standings with 51 points – has made few mistakes in 2019, going 1402 laps and 6,871.92km without a crash on a MotoGP bike before his first fall during FP3 in Barcelona.
Morbidelli also holds Moto2 podiums at Assen. In 2016 he placed third at the oldest track on the calendar, and was the racewinner in 2017 en route to his intermediate class title. The Italian rider is targetting a positive result on raceday at the Dutch GP, to change the dynamic of the last two Sundays of action, and will hope to implement the improvements found in the post-GP test following the Catalan GP. He is 12th in the World Championship with 34 points.
The 26-lap Dutch GP will take place on Sunday, June 30th at 2pm local time.
#21 Franco Morbidelli
“The last two Grands Prix have ended with a bad final result, but with us having a good feeling – especially in Barcelona where we took another front row start. In addition, we were very fast at last week’s test, so we are feeling good about the Dutch GP. I hope that the things we tried out will be useful for the race on Sunday. Assen is a circuit where I typically go well, and in 2017 I won there, so I can’t wait for the weekend to start. The main objective is to complete the race with a good result, which allows us to pick up a large number of important points for the overall standings.”
#20 Fabio Quartararo
“We go to Assen motivated after the great result from Barcelona, but we have to keep calm and continue working as we have been so far. We know exactly what our goal is, which is to be Rookie of the Year, so we shouldn’t lose sight of this and keep going step by step. If we continue working like this, I’m sure that we will enjoy further success, such as the pole and victory we got at the Catalan GP. We had a positive test in Barcelona, so we go to the Netherlands enthusiastic about things. I’ve also recovered further from my right forearm operation. Assen is a circuit that I like, I’ve achieved two podiums there, and I’m looking forward to a good weekend.”
