Yamaha has been in the spotlight for a week when it suddenly shocked the rider market by announcing the renewal of Fabio Quartararo for another two years. Furthermore, on Friday, Lin Jarvis made his farewell to the team official at the end of the season, so the performances on the track at COTA were overshadowed by what happened outside.
However, once again the M1s proved to be in difficulty on Friday of the Americas Grand Prix, with Fabio Quartararo only 17th and almost a second and a half behind the day's leader Jorge Martin. It is not a simple period for the Iwata company, which enjoys concessions due to poor results. However, the project for the future convinced El Diablo to renew his faith and stay for another two years, a decision that took almost everyone by surprise and which, at the moment, does not seem to be rewarded by the results on the track.
“It was harder than we expected,” explained the Frenchman at the end of Friday's free practice, which forced him to pass through Q1 in Saturday's qualifying. “We've tried a lot of things to look for more turning since this morning, but we haven't really found it. I expected the times to be a little bit better and not be so far away, but let's see tomorrow and hopefully find something to improve the feeling. This morning the grip was terrible, in the afternoon it went a little better, but the track continues to be full of potholes, quite dangerous in some places.”
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Certainly not a great response after COTA welcomed the MotoGP riders with new asphalt laid specifically to solve the problem of potholes that they had been complaining about for some time. However, looking not only at the whole, but at the performance of his Yamaha, Quartararo thinks there is something positive.
The engine has improved, as he has been reiterating for some time, and this allows us to take steps forward which, however, do not fully materialize as the M1 loses in other areas. The compensation game is not particularly effective on Iwata's bike according to the Nice native: “The power is a very positive aspect. I think today we were able to play a little more with the power, especially in the slow corners we have a little more aerodynamic support”.
“But we don't know why we are not faster than last year, this is the most important thing, because we have improved the aerodynamics with new parts, but when we get to the corner, there is a moment when we have less angle, we turn less . So we take two steps forward and then we're back to the same level. I have the feeling that we will be able to progress soon”, concludes the 2021 world champion.
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