MotoGP | Quartararo: “I felt competitive for the first time”

The public cheered him loudly and Fabio Quartararo went even faster. The French Grand Prix was full of satisfactions, even if the potential was not realized in terms of results. A crash when he was in sixth place dashed his dream of fighting in front of his own people, but El Diablo leaves Le Mans happy.

The 2021 world champion has given everything and knows it, but what makes him smile most is the potential he showed up until before the crash. Without falls in front of him, he managed to place himself in sixth position, even being able to glimpse the leading group. A mirage, even just until the last race: “To be honest I’m happy, because it’s the first race of the year in which I felt I was competitive and I fought with riders I’ve also fought with in the past, like Aleix, Maverick and Marc in front of me. I crashed, unfortunately, but it was the first time I found myself in sixth position without many crashes in front of me. I gave everything and wanted the best.”

Quartararo felt competitive for the first time this year and the secret lies in a different setup tested on Sunday morning: “In the Warm-Up we made a big change on the bike. The team expected me to feel a big difference, but I felt a small difference, but in a good way, so we raced with this bike. So I think we have our new base.” However, Le Mans was only a first taste, because a new test bench will be at Mugello, where Yamaha has two days of testing scheduled this week: “We will have two days of testing at Mugello, so we will have the opportunity to compare on a totally different track. But today I was riding very well and we hope to continue like this.”

The rider from Nice, speaking to the media, went into more detail about the setup that allowed him to feel competitive again: “A bit of grip, especially on entry, but not much. We have ideas on where to improve, but it takes time. Our bike always moves a lot compared to the riders in front, it is very heavy, it doesn’t turn. But little by little we are trying to improve these things and I think we are going in the right direction.”

Despite the satisfaction of once again feeling on par with the riders in the first group, Quartararo doesn’t hide a hint of disappointment at not having been able to realize his potential and ending up in the gravel in front of his fans: “For me mentally it was a good race, That’s why I’m a little frustrated that I didn’t finish it. But fighting with Aleix… In the end the podium riders weren’t that far away and the pace wasn’t that bad. In Jerez we had a good Sprint, but half the riders in front of me had crashed and I had made a great start. But here we were able to fight and that helps mentally. It will be a long road, but we will get there.”

“I was completely on the limit from the first lap, it’s strange that it didn’t happen sooner. But you know, when you’re in front of your audience, you want to give everything and I didn’t want a single percentage margin. But maybe I gave too much. I can say that I crashed because I was giving everything,” concluded Quartararo.