Yamaha explain conundrum of swapping bikes as rain fell in Misano

Yamaha’s riders opted for different strategies at the San Marino MotoGP as the conditions changed - providing contrasting results.

Fabio Quartararo stayed out on slicks when the rain fell at Misano, but Alex Rins chose to swap his bike.

Pramac’s Jorge Martin was the most notable victim of the backfiring decision to change bikes, because the conditions quickly dried.

Rins had started from 20th but his gamble to swap bikes got him nowhere. He finished 19th due to Aleix Espargaro’s retirement.

Quartararo smartly finished seventh after a late overtake of Jack Miller.

“It's been a while since we had a flag-to-flag race,” said Yamaha team boss Massimo Meregalli.

“These are always tricky. The team tries to inform the riders, providing them with as much info as possible and the latest weather predictions, but in the end it's the riders' call if they want to switch bikes or not.

“Fabio made the right decision staying out, and he rode very well. When the rain was a bit heavier, he was catching up with the front group and that allowed him to fight for seventh place.

“Alex was riding in 19th place when the rain started coming down harder, so he had little to lose.

“These things can go one of two ways: if it had kept raining, he would have profited from it, but since it suddenly stopped raining, it turned out it was the wrong call. That's racing.

“[On Monday] we will be back at the Misano track for the official IRTA test. We're hoping for dry weather so we can collect some good data, both with an eye on the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix and bike development in general.”

Quartararo said: “It was really hard, especially the first few laps when it was starting to rain.

“Usually, rain doesn't work to our advantage, but I could stay quite close to the top guys, so it was good. I enjoyed the race.

“I didn't have the feeling I expected, but the position is good. I had the other riders in front of me, so whatever they did, I was following.

“At one moment, I was really close to going into the pits for a bike swap, but I saw that the majority of them kept going, so I decided to stay out. Luckily, the track dries superfast here, so I think it was great.”

Rins added: “[The race] was a little bit difficult to manage because I decided to go to the box to change bikes, going to wet tyres. It was already raining for two laps. But as soon as we went out on track again, the rain stopped.

“So, after two laps of riding with the wet tyres, I was forced to go back into the pits and go back to the dry bike. After that, I had a better pace than the others, but it was hard to overtake.

“[Monday] is an important day for the future, because we are going to test some new items. Let's see if we can do a good test, so maybe we also have some new items for the Misano #2 race weekend.”