The day started well for Fabio Quartararo in Motegi, with a second place in Q1 which opened the doors to the second part of qualifying, but then the limits of his Yamaha were too evident. The chronic lack of grip of the M1 prevented him from fighting with the best and he only achieved 12th place on the grid.
During the Sprint, the first corner cost him three positions, which he gained again with the retirements of Brad Binder, Pedro Acosta and Aleix Espargaró, to take a modest 12th place, out of the points.
“I started well, but the first corner was quite complicated,” Quartararo explained to Canal+. “After that, you can see that there was no grip at all, we were one second behind the men in front. So, yes, it was clearly a complicated day for us.”
“The track conditions had an excessive influence,” the Frenchman complained during the meeting with journalists. “I think the track conditions influence all our results. If there is grip, we are quite good, if there is nothing, we are really limited.”
The lack of grip offered by the Motegi circuit therefore complicated Quartararo’s weekend, and the rain drops seen in the morning only aggravated the problem: “There hasn’t been the slightest change. We used exactly the same bike as this morning. We tried something that wasn’t right. It was raining a little. In those conditions, we seemed completely lost.”
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Even on the warm-up lap I had difficulty keeping up with the riders in front of me. It was quite difficult, but you have to gain experience. I’m trying to learn, to see if there’s something we can improve.”
“El Diablo” is therefore forced to accept the fluctuations of his bike based on the grip offered by each track he visits: “It’s not a setting problem. We changed the bike’s set-up, but we have difficulty putting the power to the ground It’s the only thing missing. We tried everything in the setup and that’s not the problem, above all.
“At Misano we had exactly the same bike as now. There is no reason why I should have fought with Morbidelli at Misano and now we are ten seconds behind in 12 laps. There is nothing, no reason. Just the conditions of the track changes everything for us.”
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