Fabio Quartararo was recently announced as a Monster Energy Yamaha rider in MotoGP until 2024. Although the desire to maintain the partnership has been around for a long time, the process that led to the signing of the renewal did not unfold in a straight line, and there was one key aspect for it to materialize.
Eric Mahe, the rider’s manager, told GP Inside that although the renewal process had already begun in the final stretch of last year, there was a setback before the start of this season: ‘We started talking about the future last november, knowing that our desire was to stay together. In late January, due to a development issue, we learned that the 2022 engine would be the same as the 2021 engine, which was surprising. And as our goal is to win as many races as possible, we started to look at other possibilities’.
And there was no shortage of proposals for other structures, assured Quartararo’s manager: ‘What team couldn’t be interested in a 23 year old world champion who doesn’t stop improving? Fabio is an exceptional rider who can feel the limit without going over it’.
The decisive step towards the renewal of Quartararo was the arrival of Luca Marmorini as an external consultant – an engineer with extensive experience with engines at both Ferrari in Formula 1 and Aprilia: ‘The hiring of Luca reassured us and we were able to restart talks to make Fabio’s future a reality,’ said Mahe.