The factory Yamaha rider starts this weekend with a commanding 65-point lead in the championship for the Aragon GP this weekend after dominating the British GP at Silverstone for his fifth win of the season.
Before the last six races, Quartararo only needs to finish third in each of them to secure the title.
But Aragon was not a happy hunting ground for Quartararo in the 2020 double race on the track due to tire problems on his inconsistent M1 with Petronas SRT run. He finished his worst 18th place of his career at the Aragon GP and was a distant eighth place at the Teruel GP, ahead of teammate Franco Morbidelli on the older Yamaha.
This finally began a series of races through to the end of the campaign that untangled Quartararo’s title hopes and would keep him eighth overall.
Although he admits Aragon is still not cheap for him, Quartararo is confident that there will be no repeat of his 2020 misery this weekend.
“I’m in a completely different situation than last year,” he said in Aragon on Thursday.
“In 2019 I did not have a bad race, but now I have a completely different feeling on the bike and a different situation.
“I feel a lot better so this is not my favorite track, but again this year I was pretty quick on tracks that I didn’t like.
“I think it’s not that important. It’s not my favorite place here, but of course I’ll do the same job as always and try to fight for the best position.”
When asked what is the biggest difference between this year and last season, Quartararo added: “I think what I didn’t have last year [was] the consistency, because we were fast in Jerez, Barcelona, even in Misano.
“But it’s just been up and down and this year I’m really consistent and a lot has changed. I think the battle for the championship is the main key.
“So if I have to say anything, it’s the consistency I’ve been able to maintain this year.”
Also read:
Quartararo’s interim team-mate for the Aragon GP this weekend will continue to be test driver Cal Crutchlow after Maverick Vinales is eliminated from the team. His 2022 replacement Morbidelli will make his factory Yamaha debut at Misano this coming weekend after recovering from a knee injury.
Crutchlow confirmed in Aragon on Thursday that Silvano Galbusera will not be his crew chief on the test team for the remainder of the season as the ex-Valentino Rossi ally is working with Morbidelli for the remainder of 2021.
However, the plan remains that Galbusera will be his team boss of the test team again next year.