Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha): “What can I say” / MotoGP

When he thinks about the “Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto”, Fabio Quartararo remembers moments of great success. In the last four years, the Yamaha factory rider has been on the podium three times in Andalusia. His double win in 2020 looks particularly promising, but due to problems at the Iwata factory, the Frenchman was stuck in 12th (race) and 10th (GP) last year. “When I look at last year, I don’t know what to say. But if we ignore 2023, that’s a very good path for us,” said the 25-year-old.

The current twelfth place in the World Championship has already emphasized several times this year that his focus is not on race results, but rather on test work on the weak M1. “We took important data from the first races that we will analyze,” he confirmed and explained his approach to the Spanish GP: “I think it will be the same in Austin. We will try many things and try to eliminate our weak points. However, we must focus on Friday afternoon and try to enter one for one on Q2.

With a view to the Jerez test on Monday, Quartararo added: “We will also prepare for the test at the weekend. Because on Monday we have new places to test. We can’t waste time and we will test many aspects during the race weekend. I really don’t approach the weekend as a test. But on the other hand else, I have nothing to lose.”

Despite the conservative approach, the 2021 MotoGP World Champion praised the progress that Yamaha has made since the start of the season: “Since Austin we have played a lot with the setup. This helped us a lot to know our biggest weaknesses. We just have to know which settings make the bike work perfectly . Because frankly, we haven’t changed much in the last three years.”

After the rumors that the Pramac Ducati team will move to Yamaha from 2025, Quartararo welcomes the introduction of new brand partners and emphasizes the need for a customer team: “The satellite team will be very important. Only in the preseason, this would give us more rounds and therefore information. But I’ll go further and say that the team needs to be treated like a factory team. You need factory bikes and factory support. That’s why it’s important for the drivers.”

World Drivers’ Championship after 6 of 42 races:

1. Martin 80 points
2. Bastianini 59
3. Vinales 56
4. Acosta 54
5. Bagnaia 50
6. Fastener 49
7. Espargaro 39
8. Marc Marquez 36
9. And Giannantonio 25
10. Miller 22
11. Bezzecchi 20
12. Every quarter
13. Alex Márquez 14
14. Oliveira 13
15. Raúl Fernández 7
16. Augusto Fernandez 7
17. Mir 7
18. Zarco 5
19. When 3
20. Nakagami 2
21. Morbidelli 0
22. Marini 0

World Builders Championship:
1. Ducati 96
2. KTM 76
3. April 72
4. Yamaha 19
5. Honda 8

World Cup Team:
1. Ducati Team Lenovo 109
2. Aprilia Racing 95
3. First Pramac Ducati 80
4. Red Bull KTM 71 Factory Racing
5. Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 61
6. Gresini MotoGP 50
7. Pertamina Enduro VR46 45 Racing
8. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 22
9. Trackhouse 20 Racing
10. Repsol Honda Team 7
11. LCR Honda 7