Armed with a Yamaha that had some shortcomings, especially when riding in a group, Fabio Quartararo managed to ‘in extremis’ carry the MotoGP title fight into the Valencia GP with third place in Malaysia – placing 23 points behind championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) . Dennis Noyes shared a few words about the Yamaha rider’s ride.
Speaking to his YouTube channel, and quoted by Motosan, the journalist and former rider said: ‘A big part of his success in the first lap braking maneuver was based on Pecco’s example. When Fabio saw Bagnaia in front of him, he dared to make a braking maneuver that he probably wouldn’t have done if it wasn’t for the fact that he is a direct rival for the title.’
In Noyes’ view, the Yamaha works best running solo – something also identified by the constructor’s riders – considering Quartararo worked hard not to lose a place to Marco Bezzecchi at Sepang:
– The Yamaha is a good solo fighter, it’s not a squadron fighter. When he realized that Bezzecchi was approaching he made a tremendous effort to stop the Ducati rider from catching him and, with the turbulent air ahead of the Ducati, the Yamaha would have a problem with the temperature rise of the front tyre.