On this Friday, October 23, fabio quartararo answered questions from journalists from the Motorland Aragón circuit at the end of the first day of the Teruel Grand Prix.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the French pilot.
As usual, we report here the words of fabio quartararo without the slightest formatting, even if the first part is translated from English (vouvoiement).
fabio quartararo : " Difficult but it was good in the end! During FP1 we tried a lot of things that didn't work and I was completely lost. But in FP2, I started on new medium/medium and we had a pace that wasn't bad. In particular, the second run was not bad because in the 15th lap I was able to do 49.3 or 49.2. I hope I will have the same feeling with the soft rear tomorrow when doing a long run, because after attacking the time in FP1 and FP2 with the medium, our time was not very good. So I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. »
You have recently noticed two new engines but have not used them. For what ?
« (Laughs) I have no idea! I didn't even know it. I knew an engine had gone to Japan but I have no idea which bike uses which: That's up to the team. Honestly, I have no idea. »
You followed the two Suzuki riders: What did you learn?
« Yes, for me it was very good to follow the two Suzuki riders because it is clear where we are losing time. It's clear that on almost the whole track we are really similar but there is one place, actually two or three places, where they are much faster than us. This is something we really need to improve for race pace, because it's very important. »
In Austria you had some problems using the height variation system. Can you now use it effectively?
« The system is really difficult to use because it is on the left and it is very difficult when we are tilted. On this circuit we only use it in one corner and it's not bad. But there are many other circuits where it would be very good to use it, but it is almost impossible for all Yamaha riders. So it's very hard to use it in the best possible way and we only use it when it's necessary. »
Is it difficult not to be the fastest today after taking pole position last week?
« For me, today was really a day where I had to try things on the bike, because we know that if we do nothing for the second Grand Prix, we go away. Today we tried a lot of things. Some were positive, others not so good. Generally speaking, I was happy with my second run in FP2, and it was very good for us because normally the tire degradation was way too much after 10 or 12 laps last week. Today it was still OK after 15 laps. This was the point where we really stumbled last week and so it was a positive and good day for us. We will continue in this direction by continuing to work on the pace, because in the end we know that we are fast over a lap even if I was a little lost today because it was a little strange to go to the soft rear after riding all the time with the medium. But I'm happy with FP2 overall. »
Are you going to use the height variation system this weekend? And if so, where?
« We use it in turn 15. That's the only corner where we use it. »
Yesterday, Maverick Viñales said at a press conference that Yamaha had to work on its strengths. Do you agree ?
« Focusing on the positives is great but we also need to think about the negatives. We don't only have positive points on our bike. It is true that the positive points that we have are really very great and we have a very good level of performance. But I think we can't just focus on that. We can always improve! But if you improve something that is already very, very good, in the end the room for improvement is very small. But if we want to improve something that's not so good, we have a lot more room, in comparison. So I think we need to focus not just on the positives but also on the areas where we're struggling. In qualifying, it's always great to finish on pole position or on the front row, but what matters is the race, and that's where we struggle. So that's where we have to improve, and we know which points are not very good for us. Many times we had races that weren't great even though we were very fast in practice. We must therefore work more where we struggle. »
How is your relationship with Sumi San (Takahiro Sumi, Yamaha MotoGP Project leader)?
“I have a good relationship with Sumi San but he is always busy working. But a good relationship with him. We have two Yamaha engineers in the box, and even three this weekend, and so everything goes through these engineers up to Sumi San, or through Diego (Gubellini) or Pablo, who are my crew chief and data guy. »
Piero Taramasso (Michelin) said that the problem you encountered during the race was due to your choice of tires and too much pressure you put in the tire. What do you think, because yesterday Franco Morbidelli said that the problem did not come from the bike?
« Above all, the choice of the medium tire was correct for the race. And I can confirm today that medium is better than soft. So the choice we made for the race, medium/soft, was the right one. Simply, we didn't have much experience with it and we think that the problem, even if ultimately we didn't find anything really clear, and that we have to put minimal pressure in relation to my driving style. With Franco, we both started with the same pressure, and it was good for Franco, maybe a little high, while mine was out of control. That's the only reason I see, the riding style or something like that. But for me, the choice of the medium front tire was absolutely the right one. »
Last Sunday, we were surprised not to see you angry in the box after the race...
"JI've already had a bad experience with this (laughs). You know, I was angry but I told myself that I had already made a mistake several races ago which was one of my biggest mistakes outside of the bike. At the finish line, I was angry and yelled but I told myself I had to stay calm in the box. It's something very hard for me, and it's the only thing I can be happy with this Sunday. I stayed calm and didn't make any mistakes after the finish line. It's something I'm trying to learn and I think it was positive after the race we had. »
Have you used the new Öhlins shock absorber?
« We tried a lot of adjustments, but from what I know we didn't try the new shock. We tried a lot of settings this morning and also this afternoon, but from what I know we haven't really tried a new shock. »
Honda said yesterday that Álex Márquez and Takaaki Nakagami will use 2 Moto2021 bikes next year. Wouldn't it be helpful for Yamaha if all four riders also had 2021 bikes?
« Honestly, I don't know Yamaha's situation, because as you know I will move to the factory team and I will have the factory bike. I don't really think it would be a disadvantage but of course it's always great to have all four riders on the same bike to get more information. Honestly, it's difficult to answer this question because it's already the case this year and it's good to also see the positive of another bike to maybe have it the following year. This is a difficult question »
Regarding the championship, do you consider yourself the one who has the most to lose after leading it at the start of the season?
« I have nothing to lose ! It's only my second year in MotoGP and if someone had told me that I would be second in the championship with four races remaining in my second year with a team created last year, I would have signed straight away. ! Right now I have nothing to lose and I'm just going to do my best. That's all. If we have the potential to fight for the lead, we will, and I think we have that potential. We are not giving up and we have given our 100%. It's a difficult track for us, but we know that Portimao and Valencia will be much better. So I will give my best during this race and for sure we will be there until the end. »
Concerning this tire pressure story, is it up to you to modify your driving to avoid overheating the front tire?
« Changing my driving style is far too difficult, especially since if it changes, it really changes just a little bit. In any case, I don't want to change my driving style for something I've had twice in 28 races: Once in Malaysia where that day I had a tire problem, and this time where it There wasn't really a tire for this race in Aragón. So I won't change my driving style. Starting from a lower pressure, we saw today that we managed not to have such a high pressure, so it worked out well. »
Maverick Viñales says that we must optimize the strong points of the bike, while you say that we must improve the weak points…
« Frankly, I don't really agree with what Viñales says because our strengths are really going fast when we are alone and during qualifying. Okay, it's good to have front rows and pole positions, but there comes a time when points are earned in the race! And in the race... A lot of people ask me why I wasn't doing well in the race, but we're talking about negative points, not positive points. So I think that these are the points that we need to work on, and not the points that make us go quickly. In qualifying, it's often the Yamaha riders who take pole positions, and okay, that's good, but we have to improve the points where we have difficulty, and which are in the race. We really need to stop focusing only on our strengths, but also on our weaknesses. »
Does the fact that you can't touch motorcycles make things more complicated?
« Ah, that's for sure, but I think we should already think about 2022, even if it's a long time away. We really need to be clear about our problems to fight in the race. In Barcelona, I was third and if there had been more powerful bikes in front, I would not have been able to do anything. But there, it was two Yamahas that I had in front of me, so I passed Valentino, I passed Franco, I left and we won the race. But if it had been bikes from another brand, and which had the same pace as us, I think it would not have been possible to win. »
FP1/FP2 classification of the Teruel MotoGP Grand Prix:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
