Petronas Yamaha SRT Pushing To Bounce Back In Spielberg

August 19, 2020 by PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team

PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli are targeting stronger results in Styria for the second of two races in a row at Red Bull Ring – Spielberg.

The final round in the August triple-header sees Quartararo heading into the Grand Prix of Styria having maintained his championship lead, despite finishing eighth last weekend, while Morbidelli will be looking for redemption after crashing out last time.

The Austrian GP proved to be a challenging one for Quartararo, with brake issues preventing him from fully realising his potential. Another race at Red Bull Ring – Spielberg will provide the Frenchman an additional opportunity to fight for the top positions at the Austrian circuit. Despite restarting after the red flag from 20th position, Fabio fought valiantly to climb to eighth, helping ensure he still goes into the fifth round of the year at the top of the rider's standings – with an eleven-point lead.

Team-mate Morbidelli was the unfortunate victim in a crash early on in last weekend's grand prix. The Italian was lucky to escape with no serious injuries and has spent the last few days resting to ensure he is ready for the final round in the August triple-header. Franco will be looking to pick up as many points as possible on Sunday, in order to recover positions lost in the championship – he currently sits eighth with 31 points.

The Grand Prix of Styria will get underway for PETRONAS Yamaha SRT, who still lead the team's championship, on Friday with FP1 at 9.55am local time (3.55pm MYT). Sunday's 28-lap race has a scheduled start time of 2pm local time (8pm MYT).

Fabio Quartararo

Although this isn't one of the strongest circuits for the Yamaha, we had a really good pace last weekend. It was a shame about the issue with the brakes because I think we could have finished in the top-five. This weekend is another race though and we have to take each one as they come. The team is working hard to make sure we don't have the same issue and I'm confident that we can have a better result on Sunday. I'm hoping that we can be within that top-five and score as many points in the championship as possible.

Franco Morbidelli

After the race I came back to Italy to rest at home. I've been resting these past few days and making sure I am as prepared as possible for this weekend. I am thankful that I am fine and that I didn't end up with a serious injury – the right side of my body is still sore, but better than I could have expected after that crash. I'm really looking forward to starting the weekend and focusing on racing again. I want to see how I feel on the bike on Friday, but I'm confident that I'll be ready. I know that we might have another tough weekend ahead and we need to score as many points as possible. My team has worked so hard to give me the best bike possible and I hope to go out this weekend and achieve a great result for them.

Photo credit: PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team
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