THERE was plenty to smile about for Malaysian team Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team (SRT) while Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah also finished in the points despite a tough race at the San Marino Motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday.
Rising star Fabio Quartararo, who started from third on the grid, did his reputation no harm as he led for much of the race before being pipped to the finishing line by Marc Marquez at the very end. His second plaing was his fourth podium of the season.
A highly motivated Franco Morbidelli also did well to come in fifth at his home circuit. It is the fourth time the Italian has placed in the top-five this season.
SRT boss Datuk Razlan Razali was pleased with his MotoGP riders’ performances well as Moto3 rider John McPhee who placed second in the lightweight class at Misano.
Razlan, the team principal for SRT and the Petronas Sprinta Racing's Moto2 and Moto3 teams, said: “The podiums from both Fabio in MotoGP and John in Moto3 were great results especially with John coming from far back on the grid (14th).”
“For Fabio to lead for so many laps and fight head-on with Marc Marquez is just incredible too. Franky I can’t be sad with fifth either, especially when you look at all the factory bikes that were behind him.
“But overall it was a strong weekend for Yamaha (teams) and hopefully it’s the beginning of something, the first win isn’t far away.”
Red Bull KTM Tech3's Hafizh, who started from 20th on the grid, did not have the best of races but was still able to finish just inside the points in 15th. It was his second points finish in a row after coming in 13th at Silverstone.
The Ampang-born rider has had a wretched season since Tech3 switched from Yamaha to KTM machinery but has shown slight improvement since the summer break ended.
Tech3 team principal Herve Poncharal said: “Hafizh did a steady race, got a point, which is a reward for the whole Red Bull KTM Tech3 team but he was very far down on pace.
“We have to have something to be positive (about), so we take the point to cheer, but the feeling is not very exciting.
“We are going to pack and drive directly to Aragon, where we hope things will be better.”