MotoGP | Quartararo in Q2 live: “I don’t know how I did it”

The hero of the French Grand Prix is ​​Fabio Quartararo, cheered by the public who fills the stands at every pass. The warmth of his people seems to be good for the Yamaha standard bearer, who on Friday at Le Mans managed to grab direct Q2, a surprise considering the less than satisfactory performance of the M1 in recent times.

This is also a surprise for Quartararo himself, who, after twentieth position in the morning session, did not expect such an effective lap (as much as the Yamaha might be) to allow him direct passage to the decisive qualifying phase. Of course, he goes into Q2 with the tenth time, but in the current MotoGP and on a small and narrow track like Le Mans, starting further forward is always an advantage.

At the end of the action on the track, El Diablo he met the media, to whom he was unable to give an explanation as to why he managed to obtain that 1’30″788 which allowed him to be in the top 10: “I don’t know… Giving everything I had. The window we have to make the bike look like this is very small. I think we made a great choice by fitting the hard compound on the front. When I did the first time attack, I think I was already in eighth place. So I pushed even harder and improved.”

Not only did Quartararo manage to take a direct place in Q2, but in terms of times he isn’t too far behind either. Considering Jorge Martin’s record time, from which he pays 4 tenths, the distance from Pecco Bagnaia and Pedro Acosta, second and third respectively, is under three tenths: “I was at the limit, but more than being directly in Q2, we are at less than two tenths from third and this is positive.”

This result is the result of an improvement, at least in theory. But the Nice native doesn’t believe there have been huge steps forward: “Nothing. Unfortunately, nothing. We ride with the standard bike and we need to take a step forward, especially in terms of grip. Not only in traction, especially in entry. Grip is our main problem because this morning we saw that with the medium it was a nightmare. Not for the bike, but for the tires. As soon as we have a bit of grip, our bike is completely different. So we need to understand why with greater grip the bike changes radically, because in the past we lost performance, but not as much as now. So, at the moment, this is the main aspect to improve.”

“I don’t know if there is still margin, but tomorrow I will give everything I have to qualify in the best possible position. But tomorrow we will be really, really close to our maximum limit,” continued Quartararo, who despite the direct Q2 remains realistic about the chances of success and the potential of his M1.