Fabio Quartararo was left ‘frustrated’ after the factory Yamaha rider crashed in the Sprint race at the Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas.

The 2021 MotoGP world champion slid off at the tight Turn 1, thwarting his prospects of a top-six finish. Quartararo – who qualified on the third row in seventh – re-joined the race but finished a lowly 19th on the YZR-M1.

“I feel frustrated, of course, because we had the speed,” said Quartararo.

“When we are riding with the others, I can’t do much. We have to stay calm and try to find an improvement as soon as possible.

“I wasn’t over-riding in this Sprint, only maybe on braking – that’s where I’m able to recover ground. I hope we can make a step in the next weeks and races,” he added.

“If you don’t make a good start, then it’s basically all said and done, so for tomorrow making a good start like today and being aggressive from the start will be our main aim again.”

Quartararo is 12th in the championship standings after the Sprint race at Round 3, 36 points behind Marco Bezzecchi. His team-mate, Franco Morbidelli, is ahead of him in 10th place.

Morbidelli, though, struggled to 14th in the Sprint race. The 28-year-old Italian is in the final year of his current contract with the Monster Energy Yamaha team and there is speculation over who will join Quartararo on the second factory bike in 2024.

World Superbike rider Toprak Razgatlioglu has been again linked with a move to MotoGP after being invited to test the bike at Jerez in Spain this month.

Morbidelli said: “It was difficult because this morning I missed Q2 due to a mistake I made in Turn 15 and Turn 8.

“I started 14th instead of eighth and that starting position didn’t help me, because when you’re in the group, the temperature of the front tyre goes sky high, and you can’t attack anymore.

“We were held back by this problem because this afternoon the temperatures were suddenly so high.”

The 2023 Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas starts at 14:00 local time (Central Daylight Time) Sunday April 16/05:00 AEST on Monday April 17.