MotoGP, Quartararo: “Wait for the Saturday night before the GP before betting on me.”

The last day of testing wasn’t much of a help for Yamaha factory riders Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales. Both were very fast in the past few days, thanks in part to the high grip that the Losail asphalt showed during testing, they didn’t even hit the track today. In fact, with all the wind and sand, it was absolutely impossible to conduct tests properly, and the intervention of the marshals trying to clean the asphalt was of little use.

“It was a shame not to do laps, also because you want to be on the track – admitted Quartararo, on the second day he was third fastest behind his teammates Vinales and Morbidelli – but to be honest, I can’t complain. Even when we ran at the pace, we did 1’54.5 which is a very good time. Most of all I would have liked to do a racing simulation today, but that wasn’t possible, but the other four days of testing were good. Fortunately, we didn’t have much left to test and the most important thing is that I know which bike I will start with in FP1 for the first Grand Prix. “

So is everything okay? An optimistic Quartararo? Incomplete. When asked to give his opinion on the opportunity to bet on him, he hesitated …

“You can bet what you want, it’s your money – he was joking – but I suggest you wait for the Pole on Saturday night. I have a good pace, but we have to stay focused because testing is one thing and racing is another. Then we only tested on this track, but luckily we should go to Losail in Portimao, a track where we had problems last year and so we can learn something. However, I think we could do better than 2020, even if we can’t be 100% sure that everything is okay. “

Something worries Fabio. Could it be the critical aspect of top speed, the strength of the Ducatis that his compatriot Johann Zarco showed, reaching 357.6 km / h at the end of the straight?

“On this track, which of course has long straights – was Quartararo’s answer – but in Jerez and Le Mans, for example, we will find a different situation. We don’t have to think about the Ducati’s higher speed, we can’t lose focus. “

Fabio means that it is better to think about their strengths: road holding, handling, what the Yamaha best expresses between Turn 7 and 13. In this section of the route, the M1 is even ahead of the GP21.

“Take the Suzuki too – Fabio pointed out – they were competitive on all tracks last year but neither of us can predict at the moment. I’ve done about 200 laps here so I think I’ve been preparing good for the race ”.

We remind him that it will be his first as a works driver …

“Being a works driver is a great responsibility. Vinales and I have to keep developing the bike and he’s more used to it than I am because he’s been in this situation for six years. It’s strange to me to stop and have all these engineers listening to every word I say. And every word spoken is very important. Because of this, it is necessary to measure your words and say only the right ones. “

Both he and his teammate have tried their hand at numerous test starts to solve the problem of slowness in the first laps that cost them several positions in 2020. In fact, Fabio doesn’t necessarily complain about the situation.

“I don’t think I had clutch problems – he admits – more than anything, knowing how to use it was my problem. That’s why I tried several times. “

Fabio Quartararo will now return home before the Grand Prix. And he did not want to comment on the possibility of getting vaccinated against Covid, which he had also caught.