Monster Energy Yamaha finished the Indian Grand Prix with an excellent combined result from its pair of riders, Fabio Quartararo was 3rd and Franco Morbidelli – who will move to Prima Pramac Ducati in 2024 – was 7th in Sunday’s long race.
In a season that has been quite complicated for the Japanese team, Morbidelli stated in a debrief that this was a good result for him and for the team:
– It was good, it was good. A positive race for us. The team deserves this 3rd and 7th place. I was able to regain a lot of positions, after starting a lot behind, and I was enjoying it, I’m happy. I wanted to thank my mechanics and the team. (…) I opted for the hard tyre, which for performance is a bit worse, but in the middle of the group it was working a bit better. So in the end, where I started from, it was a good choice.
The Italian Brazilian rider also said that he cannot understand completely what happened to the Japanese bikes this weekend, and that he believes that Yamaha is in fact improving and not the competitors stagnating:
– I don’t know. I can’t even tell you what happened to the Japanese bikes this weekend, why they were so much better this weekend, but I accept it. (…) I like to think it’s Yamaha that’s improving.