MotoGP, Quartararo: “The hard tire didn’t work, tomorrow I’ll try the medium”

Fabio Quartararo, the new MotoGP world champion, wants to start from a seventh place on the starting grid. Fresh from his celebrations after the Misano GP, the Yamaha rider declared that winning the title won’t stop his hunger for victory. Nonetheless, at the green light of the Portuguese GP El Diablo, he’ll be starting from the third row and will have to make a comeback.

“With the team, we’ve made some changes to the bike that sometimes work, but they absolutely didn’t work today,” Quartararo began. “I struggled a lot in what should be my strong point, which is the last sector. The grip wasn’t what I expected. I’m not saying I didn’t do at least one clean lap, but I struggled a lot in a sector where I’ve always done well, and now I didn’t. Even in the FP4, the sensations on the bike weren’t good. The medium tire seems to be the best, and I’ll try it tomorrow morning. We have to change something.”

You just said that grip is a problem for you, and Pol Espargaro talked about the problem of bumps at the last corner. Did they bother you too?
“No, I had great sensations all weekend but, in qualifying, the bike jumped a lot and moved. I had some difficulties in the FP4 with the hard rear tire but, like I said, I’ll try the medium tomorrow morning. The feeling was rather strange in qualifying, so I’ll see what I can improve tomorrow, but it’s not related to the bumps for me.”

Can you give more details on the problems you perceived?
“Honestly, I had an incredible pace this morning! I started with a tire that had eight laps and ended up with twenty-one. On the last lap, I almost set the best time. This afternoon, with the hard tire, I tried to do some laps and change the set-up a bit. The set-up I tried wasn’t very good, and it was difficult to be consistent. At turns nine and twelve, I lost a lot of time. I couldn’t get the bike to turn. I didn’t feel good at all, so I’ll have to start from a new base tomorrow, and I’ll start with the medium.”

Are you afraid that the bike isn’t competitive?
“Not at all. I tried to change because it was the tire that made the difference in April. With the medium this morning, I did twenty-one laps, and I was lapping at 1’40”100, so the tire holds, but I wanted to try the hard one, and it didn’t work.”

Francesco Bagnaia said you’re the biggest threat to tomorrow’s victory…
“I think I have a good pace. Obviously, Mir will also be very strong tomorrow. I think the race will be very long here, and my pace is pretty good.”