Monster Yamaha discovers ‘technical issue’ for Alex Rins
"The fact that [Rins] completed the race, despite the problem, is a testament to his professionalism and determination.”
Monster Yamaha team director Massimo Meregalli has praised Alex Rins for his ‘professionalism and determination’ after discovering that a technical issue caused his last-place finish in Catalunya on Sunday.
Rins was forced wide and dropped to 22nd at Turn 1 of the grand prix, before climbing back into the points.
But he then faded to 20th and last at the chequered flag, over one minute behind race winner Francesco Bagnaia and 40s from team-mate Fabio Quartararo.
“I tried to ride as smooth as possible to manage the tyre, but it felt like everything was working in a bit of a strange way,” Rins explained after the race. “The bike and the tyres, I was spinning a lot, like way too much – it never happened like that before.”
Ahead of this weekend’s Mugello round, Meregalli revealed. “We found a technical issue after the Catalan GP race which caused him to finish last. The fact that he completed the race, despite the problem, is a testament to his professionalism and determination.”
Rins and Quartararo will now hope that previous private Mugello testing, including with the latest Yamaha aero package, can help them this weekend.
“At the private test in Mugello, about two weeks ago, we confirmed the fairing was working a little bit better,” Rins said.
“At the Montmeló track the fairing was not so important in terms of wheelieing or corner speed, but in Mugello it will be more important, and we know the fairing worked quite well.
“So, I believe that it will be a good weekend, and hopefully with better grip on track than last week.”
Quartararo also hopes the new aero will be of more benefit at the ultra-fast Italian track.
“I think that the new aero parts that we rode with in Montmeló are better. You need a little bit of time to get used to a new aero, and I think the Catalan GP weekend was a great start. So, hopefully we can also see the benefit here in Mugello.”
The Yamaha riders are expected to try further technical developments in Monday's official test.
