KUALA LUMPUR - It proved to be a difficult and disappointing opening round of the 2021 MotoGP season for the PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, Sunday.
Its riders, Valentino Rossi and Franco Morbidelli, who experienced mechanical issues, ended the race 12th and 18th respectively.
Rossi’s first race as a PETRONAS Yamaha SRT rider got off to a steady start, with the Italian dropping three places on the start to end the opening lap in seventh place.
As the action unfolded in the first half of the race, Valentino found himself in 12th position before dropping further to 16th on lap 12 before recovering to cross the line 12th.
Rossi admitted that he struggled in the race as he had a problem with the tyres after several laps, especially the rear one.
“We were hoping that it would have been less of a problem today (Sunday), with the cooler temperatures, but unfortunately the feeling was similar and I lost some positions. Now we try to fix it and make it better for next week,” he said in a statement issued by the team, Monday.
The first race of the 2021 season saw Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales unleash a stunning race to claim victory while Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) came second with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) completing the podium in third place.
Describing the race as a difficult one, Morbidelli said that he hoped to investigate further on the unfortunate outing in Qatar.
“It was unfortunate that we had to have a bad race, but the good thing is that we have data to understand what was going on. I hope we can fix something for next week,” said Morbidelli.
In Moto3, Darryn Binder ended his first race for PETRONAS Sprinta Racing finishing third in Losail while another rider, John McPhee was unfortunate after being caught up in another rider’s Turn 6 incident on lap three.
“To be on the podium in the first race of the season was exactly what I needed though,” said Binder.
Meanwhile, the country’s Moto2 rider, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah, who is representing NTS RW Racing GP team, was unable to complete the race as he managed to complete only 11 laps on the circuit. - Bernama, March 29, 2021
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