Fabio Quartararo was hindered in the final phase of afternoon practice for the Australian Grand Prix by Augusto Fernandez, who was then penalized with 3 positions less on the starting grid. The Yamaha rider was unable to complete his fastest lap to try to get into the top 10, again being forced to pass through Q1 in tomorrow’s qualifying with the 17th fastest time of the day.
For the Yamaha rider, being on the track in the first qualifying phase on Saturday has become a habit, even if after the good weekend in Indonesia, where he achieved a splendid podium, he expected continuity in terms of performance: “I tried to improve the lap, but our bike loses more and more per lap with each passing year,” complained the Frenchman.
“This feature has gone from being our strength to becoming our weakness. I’m a second from first and my teammate is also struggling a lot. It is very difficult to understand what is happening in these moments,” said a displeased Quartararo.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Even if the native of Nice didn’t expect a great performance at Phillip Island, what he experienced on the track exceeded his negative expectations: “It’s much worse than I expected. Last year we managed to improve in every session.”
On Mandalika Thursday, El Diablo he had ventured a prediction by stating that he could finish on the podium, but this weekend he doesn’t think about it at all: “In Indonesia, even before starting I said that we could fight for the podium. I didn’t mention it here because I already knew it would be difficult, but I didn’t think so much.”
Yamaha’s improvement in the final race was largely due to the structure of the Michelin tire, which featured a harder casing to combat the heat. However, this tire has not arrived in Australia: “The standard casing does not affect us negatively, but it benefits others, especially the Ducatis.”
#MotoGP #Quartararo #knew #difficult