The first part of rookie Fabio Quartararo’s first MotoGP season ended with a fall. The Frenchman, who drives for the Yamaha Petronas team, surprised everyone in the first nine races of the year and achieved two podiums and three pole positions. Of course, today’s crash doesn’t undo the good it has done so far.
“The crash on lap two was unlucky – Quartararo commented – now I’m looking at the second part of the season, in which I really want to improve. I shifted wrong on the straight and couldn’t brake as I wanted. Then Rins crashed too and I think we made the drivers behind us happy because we were close to the front and they made up places. It’s all part of the experience and today I learned not to overdo it in the early stages. ”
You had an amazing first nine races. How can you sum that up?
“I can only be happy. From jerez on we made incredible steps forward and achieved first rows, podiums and bars. The first three races were like a test for me, I was still trying to understand the bike. Now I can I.” Don’t wait until you are on the right track in the second half of the season. “
If you look at the pace of other drivers today, where do you think you could have finished?
“I had a strong pace and could have kept up with the best. The race didn’t seem fast, the pace was slower than at the weekend. Maybe the grip made a difference, I had strange sensations during the two laps I completed I don’t know if this was the case with the others too. ”
Now you have a good break before the Brno lap when your best result so far was an eleventh place in Moto2 last year. How are you going to spend the vacation?
“I will relax. I will see the doctor to understand my shoulder problem and check my arm after the operation. I will continue to train and give 100% so that I am ready when we get to Brno. My shoulder is today okay, but maybe because I only drove 2 laps out of 30. “
Audio recorded by Matteo Aglio