Yamaha riders have struggled more in wet conditions in recent years, but more so when the track starts to dry out, with poor rear wheel grip being the main cause of their problems.
Despite finishing flag-to-flag over 14 seconds before winning the French GP, Quartararo still emerged from the event with a podium, which marked a turn in wet luck for the French.
In an FP2 session that started wet but dry for 45 minutes, Quartararo was more than two seconds behind Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori in 15th place, while Yamaha colleagues Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi on the SRT Ranks 20 and 22 were, while Maverick Vinales was well over a second slower in ninth place.
Quartararo was stunned by his poor form in the wet on Friday and is concerned about a possibly rainy race on Sunday.
“This morning was okay,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com if Yamaha’s rainy weather problems had returned.
“I mean, we stayed with the same tires, we haven’t changed.
“And after five long weeks without riding I always need a bit of time to come back and I think it was a great pace, a much better feeling than in 2020.
“But in the wet conditions it’s still the same as if I had no feeling.
“When it’s totally wet, I’m not good and we’re not the best, but as soon as it’s halfway through, I have no feeling on the bike and I don’t enjoy it at all.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“So we have to find a solution to these conditions, and that’s strange.
“Straight grip is really bad in the wet, I was with you [Jorge] Martin and Pol [Espargaro] and I wasn’t bad at braking and turning.
“But as soon as you step on the gas… it’s not about performance, it’s just about grip on the straight. It was kind of a nightmare about an FP2. “
Quartararo also disproved suggestions that his lack of rain riding experience in MotoGP could add to his problems, noting, “No, because Valentino is one of the most experienced riders in the wet and I think we have the same problem.
“In 2019, my first year, I think that I never got out of the top 10 in the wet and we made Brno, Motegi, Phillip Island tough tracks that we now have a lot of struggles on, and those were ours Strengths in 2019..
“I don’t understand, because I don’t like wetness, but in 2019 I was always in the top 10.
“Last year and this year it was a really strange feeling, so I don’t know.
“So we have to find a solution, because Sunday it is supposed to rain and I have zero feelings.
“I don’t know where I am, so I’m a little disappointed, but we still have tomorrow. So let’s see and hope we have an improvement. “
He added: “We have to find a solution because I’m not that bad in the wet, we took a podium at Le Mans.
“So something happened to this track that we are lost.
“Last year was the same, we honestly have to find something because it’s not normal for us to be so far away from the top guys.”