The season for Fabio Quartararo has not started in the best way, the performance of his Yamaha does not satisfy him and now, in addition to his technique, a further problem has arisen: racing in Amsterdam, the Frenchman injured his left ankle, therefore he showed up at the circuit not in top physical shape. He will undergo an x-ray session later to verify that there are no major injuries.
“I crashed while racing, twisted my left ankle and thumb,” El Diablo explained on the Thursday before the Assen race weekend. “Now I will do x-rays and hope everything is ok. This shouldn’t affect the weekend, but I’ll definitely take some painkillers, because it’s the shifter ankle, where I put some weight to change direction. I’ll be a little more tired, but it’s part of the game.”
Therefore, Quartararo is relatively worried about the injury sustained in training, also considering this part of his job. Of course, the left ankle is definitely under heavy strain, but the rider from Nice tries not to create too many problems before he has the results of the x-rays.
In fact, the Yamaha rider prefers to concentrate on the weekend, where he expects to go better than in a decidedly complicated first half of the season. Here at Assen Quartararo won in 2021, the year in which he was later crowned world champion, and being a track where the M1 has always proved effective, he hopes to be able to arrive at the summer break with a smile: “For me it is a track where if we’re not fast here, we’re not fast anywhere. It’s one of my favorite circuits and I’ve always been fast here. Even if we have some difficulties with the bike, we hope to get a good result and go on holiday with a good position”.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
However, the situation in Yamaha appears rather critical, being in the top 10 is already complicated and both riders are struggling to reach the top, while trying to improve: “Every time we tried something, it never got better. We have already tried two frames, but nothing has been better. I think there will be something before the end of the year, I don’t know if it will work, but I hope there is a plan, because we are struggling a lot”.
However, there will be new tests, in which Quartararo hopes that Yamaha will bring some innovations that can work in the short term, i.e. before this season ends: “It’s difficult to improve, so I hope you find something that allows me to push. We’ll try next year’s bike in the Misano tests, so I’m waiting for them, but not too much. Because we need something for this year. 2024 is another thing, I want to perform now, we’re not even halfway through the season and there’s nothing planned.”
“For this year’s bike I expected big changes, but nothing really worked in the pre-season, so we went back to the base of previous years. Obviously, however, for 2024 I really hope for big changes”, continues El Diablo, who is then asked about the future. The other side of the garage doesn’t seem to be as solid and in 2024 there is uncertainty about his teammate. Will Morbidelli stay or will someone else arrive? Quartararo does not comment: “I think that anyone who comes or stays in the team, I have no preferences. Obviously I’d prefer someone who has experience in MotoGP, but as far as people are concerned, I have no preference.”
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