Fabio Quartararo has no problem in saying what he thinks and is surrounded by uncertainty towards the next season, admitting that he won’t be a MotoGP title contender in 2024.

‘No doubt about it. My goal as a rider would be to be able to fight for the championship, but I have to be realistic because I know that in 2024 we won’t have the chance to fight for the World title’ said the frenchman, who is counting on Yamaha to evolve in the coming season.

‘If we want to at least have the chance to fight for the podium and victories, I think we’ll have to take a step, it’s a realistic goal for me and also for Yamaha, a real personal goal for me’, said Quartararo, who still doesn’t want to talk about his contract with the japanese brand, which expires at the end of 2024.

O conteúdo Quartararo doesn’t see Yamaha as a title contender in 2024 aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Fabio Quartararo finished with only two points in the main race of the Australian MotoGP. The Monster Energy Yamaha rider found himself in the back of the pack early on and ended up in 14th place.

The French rider explained the delay at the start and mentioned that despite having a good pace, he didn’t have enough speed to compete with his rivals:

– I tried to go around the outside, but I moved quite a lot for the left and the holeshot devide was blocked. But I really tried to do something different, because my pace was pretty good. But apart the mistake I did in the first lap, I was struggling so much in the first laps compared to the others and then the pace was not bad, but we are way too slow and we cannot really fight with the others.

There may still be action at Phillip Island on Sunday if the weather allows, but so far, Quartararo has no positive conclusions to take with him: ‘I don’t find any positives during this weekend. We tried everything. Normally I’m more a rider to stay with one base and try to adapt myself to the bike, but this weekend was that difficult that we had to try many things, but nothing was positive. Tomorrow, if the weather is OK, in the warm-up we’ll try something really extreme and we will see’.

O conteúdo ‘I don’t find any positives during this weekend; we tried everything’ – Fabio Quartararo aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After Suzuki’s exit at the end of 2022, Yamaha is now the only manufacturer with an in-line four cylinder engine in MotoGP. Fabio Quartararo is one of the riders of the Iwata-based house.

Last year, Álex Rins won at Phillip Island with an in-line four in his Suzuki GSX-RR, but for the Frenchman from Monster Energy Yamaha the type of the engine isn’t his main problem – but the lack of power instead:

– I don’t really think the in-line four was the problem; it’s the power that can be an issue. Last year I tried to save too quickly the tyre, but when you exit on last corner and then during all the straight you are missing this power I made some mistakes. But this year I know what to do if I am on the same situation.

O conteúdo ‘The in-line four wasn’t the problem; it’s the power’ – Fabio Quartararo aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Franco Morbidelli returned to the points with a 14th-place finish at the MotoGP Indonesian GP. Although the result wasn’t particularly strong, he took positive indications from the race in Mandalika and hopes to replicate them at the Australian GP.

The Italian rider from Monster Energy Yamaha stated: ‘The electronics issue aside, the Indonesian GP race was actually quite passable. I was pleased with the speed I had, so I’m curious to see if we can benefit from that this weekend’.

Morbidelli also emphasized the importance of being well-prepared from the opening day: ‘We have seen in Indonesia once again how important the Fridays are in the MotoGP 2023 race weekend format. We need to make sure we are ready on the Friday and be prepared for anything and everything because the weather at Phillip Island can be unpredictable. I like this track though, and we will do our best again!’.

O conteúdo Franco Morbidelli is ‘curious’ to see if he can maintain speed in Australia aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Following his second podium in three races, Fabio Quartararo faces this weekend’s MotoGP Australian GP on a very different circuit and under different conditions.

The French rider from Monster Energy Yamaha stated in a press release that he is aware it will be challenging to replicate the result at Phillip Island but emphasized the importance of recent results in terms of motivation:

– The podium at the Mandalika track was great. It was a nice boost also for the team, but we now start a new weekend. Getting a podium this weekend will be more difficult. Phillip Island is a track where you need to save the tyre. It will be difficult, but we will try anyway! I think it’s important to take it race by race. In the last three Races we got two podiums, so I think we can be happy with how things are going lately, and it gives us all a boost as we prepare for the future.

O conteúdo ‘Getting a podium this weekend will be more difficult’ – Fabio Quartararo aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The MotoGP World Championship continues next weekend with the Australian GP, and Fabio Quartararo anticipates a very different scenario from what led him to the podium in Indonesia.

The Monster Energy Yamaha rider said in a press conference that he expects some difficulties at Phillip Island, setting a primary goal of finishing in the top ten in the practice:

– For Australia is different. Last year we suffered a lot because it’s a track also where we have to take care of the tyre and with the lack of acceleration and power we have, it’s gonna be tricky. My main goal for Australia will be to be on the Q2 from the practice.

O conteúdo Fabio Quartararo’s ‘main goal’ for the Australian GP aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Fabio Quartararo was competitive at the MotoGP Indonesian GP, getting a podium with the third place. This isn’t his best result of 2023, but the Monster Energy Yamaha rider sees this as the best podium of the year.

In a press conference, the Frenchman said that being close to the first two places thanks to his pure performance made this podium particularly special:

– For me this is the best podium of the year because especially in India I finished eight or nine seconds from [Marco] Bezzecchi, in Austin I made the podium, but I was a little bit too far from the winners. And here I can say I really recovered to the top two, I really catch them and I did it by my speed, not with consequences of the race. This is by far the best podium of the year.

O conteúdo Why Fabio Quartararo considers the podium in Indonesia was the best of the season aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

In what was his second podium in the span of three rounds, Fabio Quartararo finished the MotoGP Indonesian GP in third place. The rider battled for a top-three finish throughout the race in Mandalika after starting from fourth.

The Frenchman from Monster Energy Yamaha mentioned in a press conference that it was a good race for him, as he managed to overcome the difficulties with the rear tire to have a stronger final part:

– It was great, and especially in the second part of the race. To be honest, already in the warm-up with the medium the feeling wasn’t good – especially the first laps. In the warm-up lap I pushed really a lot on the rear tyre to really make it spin, because I was struggling a lot to warm the tyre. Then, after two or three laps it was OK, but our pace in the second part of the race was good. Unfortunately I couldn’t try an overtake, but I think it was a great race for us, I think I was 3.5s from Pecco [Bagnaia] at one stage of the race and I finished really close. So, it was great for us.

O conteúdo ‘I think it was a great race for us’ – Fabio Quartararo aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Fabio Quartararo secured the third place in the MotoGP Indonesian GP, marking his second podium in the last three races. In Mandalika, he was beaten by Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia).

Despite this above-average result for the year, the Monster Energy Yamaha rider admitted to the official broadcast that he was frustrated with the outcome, believing that he could have done better.

– I’m frustrated, because I know my speed. I was 3.5s, I catch up, but we know what we missed and it’s really frustrating when you know your capacity. But I’m be back in the podium, from Austin to India was a long time, now from India to here was shorter. So, I’m really happy and hopefully Phillip Island makes a great race for us.

O conteúdo ‘I’m frustrated, because I know my speed’ – Fabio Quartararo aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Fabio Quartararo qualified this morning in 4th position, finishing the Sprint race in 5th place, which represents a good result, considering Yamaha’s less positive season.

In a debrief, the French rider was satisfied with his performance, although he considered that Jorge Martin is in a separate category, and that he could do nothing to keep up with the Spanish rider, as the single racing line did not help Quartararo:

– Yes, it was a good start, especially the braking for turn one, it was good. Then it was difficult to keep pace with the others, especially in acceleration, we are struggling a lot. (…) Not me, because you could clearly see where Marco (Bezzecchi) and Jorge (Martin) overtook me. Coming out of Turn 1 and then into Turn 10, so it was frustrating to see the way they were able to overtake, but I tried to fight a little bit with Jorge but he was clearly quicker and then I saw that he was going to try (overtaking) at Turn 12 and I thought about following him, but it’s a totally different category.  Let’s put it like this.

“El Diablo” also stated that tomorrow’s race will depend a lot on the choice of tires, adding that he was impressed with the two Mooney VR46 riders:

– It depends on the choice of tires. I think the soft was decisive for us, especially in terms of safety. There were a lot of tyres with marks and it seems like it’s not easy to do the whole race, so I don’t know what tyre it will be for tomorrow, but it won’t be easy. (…) I’ll test tomorrow morning (medium tyre), but I only tried it in FP1 when the track was dirty, so I didn’t try it well. (…) It’s shocking, especially Marco (Bezzecchi), because Luca (Marini) had a bit more time than Marco, but yes, an excellent race from these two riders.

O conteúdo ‘It was frustrating to see the way they managed to overtake’ – Fabio Quartararo aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.