AFTER their strong showing in qualifying on Saturday, the Italian Motorcycle Grand Prix race was not exactly what fans had expected from Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team (SRT).
Rookie Fabio Quartararo, who started from second on the grid, finished the race 10th after a slow start while the more experienced Franco Morbidelli, who qualified fourth, crashed out of the race in the sixth lap.
SRT team principal Datuk Razlan Razali admitted it was not what they were hoping for but remains grounded in his expectations.
“We have mixed feelings about the race.
“Morbidelli was doing very well until he crashed but we are still happy with his performance,” said Razlan.
“We’re also happy with the tenth position for Quartararo because the goal for him is still to be the best rookie in the class.
“Clearly we weren’t able to match the fastest bikes on the straight during the race but we will move on and take the positives.
“We have learnt a lot and we have seen our two riders riding with the frontrunners.”
The Malaysian-owned team, which is only six races old, had set out at the start of the season to finish the year with the Rookie of the Year title through Quartararo and the Best Independant Team Rider via Morbidelli.
Quartararo leads the rookie classification with 31 points and is 12th in the overall MotoGP standings.
Morbidelli, who won the Rookie of the Year title last season, is one spot ahead in 11th with 34 points.
Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah, who was forced to retire from the race in Mugello, is 23rd overall on two points.
The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider had almost crashed early in the race and felt it was safer to retire as he did not want to risk another incident later in the race.