At the end of the second quarter at Le Mans on Saturday, Quartararo grabbed his third straight pole of the 2021 season with a 0.081 second lead and led Yamaha team-mate Maverick Vinales.
However, the day started difficult for Yamaha. Quartararo fought 19th place under the drying conditions of RP3.
Quartararo fought for ninth place from pole position in the wet Le Mans race last year after never having driven a MotoGP Grand Prix in the rain.
With rain predicted for Sunday’s 27-lap race, Quartararo doubts he’ll be at the front if it’s wet long after the start, but hopes to learn from his fellow men to understand what make them better under the conditions.
“So, I felt really good to me this morning,” he said. “Ok, we were a long way away, but the problem is that I drive well. I don’t feel that slow, but when you see the position and you are really way down, it’s hard to accept.
“But I really want to see different bikes what they do. It’s pretty clear that we lose as we accelerate, but maybe that’s how they carry the corner [speed] or so.
“But for me, if I start from pole position, we have to be clear that if it’s a wet race – unfortunately we won’t stay in first position for long. As soon as a driver overtakes, I want to learn and see what he does differently.
“We have Jack [Miller] in the front row so I think he’s one of the best in these conditions and I want to see what he does differently.
“But we’ll try to find something in the warm-up when it’s wet and still try something.”
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Quartararo announced that he did not believe he had reached pole position immediately after qualifying as he had already seen three motorcycles in Parc Ferme – with Franco Morbidelli in fourth place finishing as the best independent rider.
“It’s been a tough day because the first run of RP3 was pretty good because with more water on the track it’s easier for us,” added Quartararo.
“And as soon as the track dried out, everyone improved a lot. We improved, but almost nothing. It’s so difficult for us in mixed conditions with wet tires.
“It was actually a good thing that the track was dry for qualifying. The last sector was a bit tricky at the beginning, but on the last lap I pushed myself to the limit.
“At Turn 11 I was pretty close [to the limit], but actually I didn’t even know I had a pole because I saw three motorbikes in Park Ferme and at the last moment saw my mechanics. So it was pretty cool. ”