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Quartararo Surprised by Yamaha’s Pace at Spanish GP

Fabio Quartararo found himself puzzled over the impressive speed of his Yamaha during the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix practice on Friday. Despite his prior performance on the second row at the previous race in Qatar, the French rider had not anticipated replicating that success on the less grippy surface of Jerez.

He emerged as a top contender for the fastest lap time, only to experience a crash at the final corner while on a lap that promised to elevate him to the top of the leaderboard significantly.

Quartararo returned to the track with his favored M1 bike, despite sustaining minor damage from the spill at Lorenzo corner with just 13 minutes left in the session. Though the accident hampered his performance—with yellow flags disrupting the session and a mistake on his final attempt—he still secured a spot in Q2 with the fifth-fastest time.

Given his earlier challenges, finishing just half a second behind the pace-setter Alex Marquez and one position behind championship leader Marc Marquez boded well for the upcoming weekend.

“The pace was good; unfortunately [I had] the crash, but it was a positive day,” noted the 26-year-old Quartararo. “I have confidence, especially on the front.”

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

He expressed satisfaction with the front-end feel of his bike, stating, “I’m really happy and the front feeling of our bike is incredible. But when you push too much, you find a limit like in that last corner [Lorenzo].”

Still, Quartararo was at a loss as to why his Yamaha performed so well in Spain: “I want to understand why we were fast today. I have a good feeling, but there is no reason that we are able to go fast at a track like Jerez where the grip is not fantastic.

“After a crash, [with] the bike missing one wing, and the steering handlebars not straight, we are only two tenths from Marc. It’s not really logical. We have to understand.”

Looking Ahead to Qualifying

Following his Friday performance, Quartararo anticipates maintaining his momentum into Saturday’s qualifying session, which could lead to another strong sprint, following his fifth-place finish in Qatar.

However, he is wary about the grand prix on Sunday, concerned about a potential repeat of his drop to seventh position during the Qatar Grand Prix.

“Tomorrow morning we know that we will go faster because the temperature will be lower,” he stated. “But especially on Sunday after the Moto2 race, the difference between us and the others, when the grip is lower, is much higher. Let’s see; on Sunday, we never know why, but our grip is super low.”

Photos from Spanish GP – Practice

In this article:

Richard Asher

MotoGP

Fabio Quartararo

Yamaha Factory Racing

Source
www.motorsport.com