Morbidelli and Quartararo Finish Top 13 at 2023 German MotoGP

Team ENEOS had a strong start at the Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, with Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP riders Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo gaining positions in the early stages.

With Marc Marquez withdrawing from the German GP, both riders moved up a position on the starting grid. Morbidelli launched from P16 to defend his position, moving up a spot as he overtook Takaaki Nakagami on the second lap. On lap 7, he advanced past Maverick Viñales for 14th.

Morbido lost a position to Augusto Fernandez but focused on his pace to move up to 13th after Brad Binder crashed out and teammate Quartararo experienced tire degradation. He picked off Aleix Espargaró during the final stages of the race to hold 12th as he crossed the finish line, 22.949sec from first.

“If we compare ourselves to where we were last year, we’ve improved a lot, but overall this season we’re struggling,” Morbidelli says. “The crew made all the right decisions and we pushed to the maximum, so I’m happy but we have a lot more fighting to do.”

Quartararo started strong from P11, gaining a position in the first sector. As the rider order settled over the opening laps, El Diablo fought to stay ahead of Enea Bastianini while trying to keep up with riders ahead. However, on lap 9, things began to go downhill…

With his soft rear tire degrading, Quartararo lost more positions, pushing him down to 14th. But he continued his fight, overtaking Espargaró on the final lap, finishing the race in 13th, 25.117sec off the race winner.

“We took a gamble with the soft rear tire and it didn’t pay off,” Quartararo explained. “Trying a new tire in this race was a bad choice, but we gave it our all anyway.”

Following the German GP, Quartararo is eighth in the overall standings with 57 points; Morbidelli remains 12th with 50 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP is sixth in the team championship with 107 points, and Yamaha is fifth in the manufacturer championship with 68 points.

NEXT RACE

Team ENEOS heads to round 8 of the 2023 MotoGP season, the TT Assen, held at TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands.

Catch previous coverage from Round 6, the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley.