He is the leader of the world championship and continues to prove to be the reference point of this season: Fabio Quartararo closes the Friday free practice at Silverstone with the best time in the combined standings, after having signed the fourth time in FP1 and the fastest lap in the FP2, complete with a track record. Despite the penalty he will have to serve on Sunday in the race, the reigning world champion really looks like the man to beat in this British Grand Prix.
The summer break seems to have been good for the Frenchman, who faced Friday morning very calmly. In fact, during the first free practice session he tried the Long Lap Penalty area, where he will have to pass on Sunday to serve the penalty that was inflicted on him for the fall in Assen in which he involved Aleix Espargaro: “It’s long, but I wouldn’t say excessively. Clearly you waste time and take a few meters on a lap, but you don’t have to be too precise as for example in Barcelona, where precision is required. So you need more meters and obviously you waste time. We checked, I won’t say the numbers, but a lot of time is wasted ”.
However, as already stated on the eve of the weekend, El Diablo does not see this as an obsession and already has the strategy in mind: “I will do it as late as possible, but I don’t have to go crazy for it. One or two more laps won’t change too much. I tried it today and every time there was a yellow flag and I lost the lap, it happened five or six times. However, I prefer not to talk about the strategy, we will only be able to say it on Saturday afternoon. Obviously, as soon as you know that the message of the penalty arrives, you have to give your maximum two laps later ”.
With such a competitive MotoGP, the fight will certainly be tight and Quartararo will be forced to overtake several times. However, there is a precedent: in 2020, Johann Zarco was forced to serve a Long Lap Penalty in Brno, but still managed to get on the podium. The Yamaha rider, however, prefers not to consider that case and expresses his concerns about the safety of the Long Lap area at Silverstone.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Zarco’s case is totally different,” Quartararo explains, “because in Brno it was the corner itself, so it was just the outside and I think it was five or six laps to go. Now, however, I have to do it at the beginning, but it is a fairly treacherous area to get back on track. So I think this is something important. For me it is a small advantage, but for safety it is quite complicated, I hope they don’t tell me to do it on the first lap, but maybe on the second or third for safety reasons ”.
“The Long Lap has grip because it is asphalt, but it has many holes”, continues the driver from Nice. “I think it is not necessary to take risks that can drop to gain a tenth or two. It is not a problem to lose a few tenths. I already tried it yesterday with the bicycle and I saw that it is long, but it is not bad. But I still think I don’t deserve this penalty. But if it will help stewards in the future to find a balance for penalties, then that’s okay ”.
Despite the record time in the afternoon, Friday was not all roses for the reigning world champion, who found himself stationary on the track during the morning session. His Yamaha fell silent and he had to pit, helped by Jack Miller. Quartararo immediately gives an explanation: “Problems with the petrol pump”.
Even the afternoon, however, left with bated breath: movements to the left arm and massages before getting on the track made us think that the arm pump could be back, from which he suffered last year by resorting to the operation. Instead Quartararo reassured everyone by clarifying that it was only a problem with the shoulder cam, which installed at that point was uncomfortable on the suit.
Overall, however, the Frenchman is not particularly satisfied with the day: “It was tough, because in the first laps of FP1 I felt a bit lost. Not about power or driveability, but braking. At Turn 8 I was braking, but I had to release and I didn’t remember how much these bikes were braking and how much I couldn’t ride after Assen due to shoulder discomfort, it was strange ”.
Quartararo clarifies the shoulder issue: “It is not an injury, I had medical examinations in Andorra, but not many others. I did an MRI a week ago and everything was fine. I prefer to ride the bike and that’s it ”.
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