Sixth on the starting grid in Mandalika, Fabio Quartararo thought he would have to face a frustrating race like yesterday’s Sprint at the Indonesian Grand Prix. This time it was due to a complicated start, in which he struggled because his tire was not hot enough. As a result, he lost four positions right from the start, only to find himself relegated to 13th place at the end of the first lap.
“I risked falling at turn 7, I cut and had to slow down to lose a second to avoid a long lap penalty. In this way, I lost four positions,” he explained. “Apart from the first five laps, I think we can be satisfied with our race though.”
In fact, it took a good third of the race before Yamaha finally found the promising pace it had been capable of since the start of the weekend, which allowed the 2021 world champion to fight back into the top 10, while also benefiting of several crashes that punctuated a race that saw only 12 riders at the finish line. Helpless the day before in the close quarters battle, this time “El Diablo” felt a little more at ease.
“I was a little more comfortable overtaking, because we started with the hard tire on the front, so I could brake a little harder,” he confirmed. “With the rear average, I think the others also had a bit more of a drop, while we managed to save the tyres. I had fun starting from the tenth lap, then I had fun in the last 15 laps.”
“The pace was the right one to fight for the top 5 today. I think we could have finished quite close to Bezzecchi, like in Misano. There is progress, it’s a little better. It’s not even crazy, but there is one direction. Now I expect a very complicated race at Motegi though.”
Fabio Quartararo produced a finally balanced score.
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The development work carried out by Yamaha has allowed Fabio Quartararo to rediscover the pleasure of riding, but the overall picture is still inadequate. For the Frenchman, the situation is a bit halfway, because it increases his personal confidence but leaves the Japanese team in the dark on too many aspects, in particular that of tire heating.
“It’s positive, but more for me than for the team,” he sums up. “Mentally, I felt good this weekend… But for the problems we have, we don’t have the answers to our questions and that’s not very positive. Rins was last today, and frankly I can understand, because the feeling at the start of the The race is complicated, when you can’t warm up the tire it’s taking too long.”
“I can’t go into detail, but we’ve worked on the chassis so we can maybe get more grip,” he concludes on future prospects. “We need to see to what extent we can gain grip, and put in a lot more power, but that’s not on the cards for this year.”
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