This first round of the MotoGP World Championship ended with Fabio Quartararo in P11 and Álex Rins in P16. These positions were not in Massimo Meregalli’s mind before the start of the season and the changes introduced from Saturday to Sunday were not enough.
The Team Director started by saying that he expected better but, after the Sprint race, the signs that there would be a tough race on Sunday were clear: ‘We expected to be in a more competitive position when we arrived here, but the Saturday Sprint already showed that we have more work to do. Although we were 6s faster in the Saturday Sprint than in November last year, that is still not enough’.
Despite trying to find something for the Long race, this was not possible: ‘Yamaha has taken into account the riders’ feedback and will work on updates. But realistically, this was not something that could be resolved in 24 hours. So, for Sunday’s race, we made some changes to the setup and discussed with the riders the best way to manage the tires’.