Morbidelli launched from fourth on the grid as he started fighting for the holeshot. While holding the outside line through Turn 1, he was pushed back to fourth place. The 25-lap race then became a bit of a lonely ride for the Italian.

The Yamaha man kept concentrating on the race in tough wet conditions, then with Francesco Bagnaia crashing out from second place on lap 17, Morbidelli shifted into third place. He has then relegated to a position due to charging Johann Zarco in the final laps. Still, he managed to negotiate the M1 across the finish line in fourth place, 7.581s from first, taking championship points.

Quartararo had a decent start from 10th on the grid, despite a seriously wet Termas track making visibility minimal. The Frenchman was unlucky to be clipped by a rider on the opening lap when he was in ninth position. He kept his Yamaha upright as drop to 16th place.

El Diablo kept his head cool to gradually climb back up the order. With nine laps to go, in tenth place. With Bagnaia crashing out, the number-20 rider moved up to eighth after overtaking Luca Marini, and took the chequered flag in seventh position, 11.095s from the race leader.

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team will have one week off before starting Round 3, the Grand Prix of The Americas, in Austin, Texas.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

We really hoped for a podium for Franky yesterday in the Sprint and today we came close again. In the end, we had to settle for fourth place, but we are still satisfied. The conditions were so tricky out there. When the track is like that, the riders must keep their wits about them and ride in a smart way. Franco‘s 13-point gain is highly valuable. The same can be said for Fabio‘s 9 points. He was unlucky to be pushed wide by an overly ambitious Nakagami. We don‘t understand why this action was not punished, considering it impeded Fabio‘s race completely. Luckily, Fabio‘s pace in the wet was so strong that he still recovered to seventh place. We now have one week off before Round 3 at COTA where we aim to reconfirm our improved performance.

FRANCO MORBIDELLI

I’m very happy. Different conditions and situations, and we were able to perform well on all occasions, so we’ll take that. We know what to work on. We know we need to improve some areas, and the team is on it and really wanting to recover the lost ground. I was sorry to see that Johann was catching up. I gave everything to keep the podium spot, but I couldn’t. That was a pity. I had a whiff of the podium yesterday, and I smelled it today but couldn’t quite get it. Anyway, it was a great weekend for me, and we need to build onto this. We need to see what happens in Austin. The feeling that I had this weekend was good. I would also like to have it in Austin.

FABIO QUARTARARO

I’m both happy and sad. There’s always someone who makes my race difficult in the opening laps for no reason. My start was pretty good, and I was more or less in the same position as where I started. I was not that far, but Nakagami made that move as if it was the last lap, but it was not. The positive thing today is going from last place to seventh. Our pace in the wet was pretty good, so I’m happy about that. But I think a top-5 position would have been possible today had things been different.

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