Fabio Quartararo: Yamaha forever? / MotoGP

Fabio Quartararo has been at Yamaha since joining MotoGP in 2019 and has been riding for the factory team since 2021. The first French MotoGP world champion in history knows no other (apart from Honda, KTM and Kalex in the smaller classes). Only Ducati Italians Bagnaia, Bastianini, di Gianantonio and Bezzechi are monogamous like him, and Martín (also Ducati), Brad Binder (KTM) and Taka Nakagami (Honda), as well as GASGAS duo Acosta and Augusto Fernández. Some Drivers have driven with three tuning forks on show for more than 8 seasons, most notably Valentino Rossi, twice as long. But his number 46 also stuck on bikes from Ducati and Honda. The same goes for Jorge Lorenzo or Carlos Checa.

In the entire history of MotoGP there is only one rider besides Fabio who has competed in his MotoGP career only on Yamaha. And that’s James Toseland, who rode the Yamaha Tech3 in 2008 and 2009 and brought home a few 6th places as highlights. However, his loyalty to Yamaha was more due to the Tech3 situation, because in the Superbike World Championship he was also on Ducati, Honda and BMW beside his brand of body and soul.

But what about Yamaha legend par excellence, unforgettable for all eternity: Norifumi “Norick” Abe? The attractive long-haired Japanese rider had his best times in the 500cc two-stroke era, but he also rode in MotoGP for three years. Throughout his time in GP (11 seasons) and in two years of the World Superbike Championship, he rode Yamaha exclusively. Unique? Not at all! Once, at his first game in Japan in 1994, he rode a private Honda. Unfortunately, the man who liked and then tested Yamaha died in a traffic accident in 2007, but we don’t want to forget him as a person who was more closely connected to three tuning forks than most.

American boy Ben Spies was almost completely signed to Yamaha with 50 of 55 GP starts on Yamaha. However, he competed in his first 3 races on a Suzuki and the last 2 on a Ducati. The footnotes included drivers like Pere Riba (5 starts, 4 championship points), Wataru Yoshikawa (2 starts, 5 points), Katsuyuki Nakasuga (12 starts, one podium, a total of 69 championship points) or Garrett Gerloff (two attempts) , without points. ).

If Fabio Quartararo spends the rest of his life at Yamaha, it will not only make him an Iwata legend, but it will be completely different in a world where even Marc Márquez has at least temporarily turned his back on his regular Japanese team.