This Saturday September 17, 2022, fabio quartararo answered questions from journalists from the Motorland Aragón circuit at the end of the second day of the Aragón Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion French driver still occupies command of the world rankings but must now face the meteoric rise of Francis Bagnaia who has won the last four races. Aragón is a circuit that has never really been successful for him even if, as was the case yesterday, the Yamaha rider generally sets good times there on Fridays.
Today, he qualified 6th giving his best but showed excellent pace during FP4.
As usual, we report here the words of fabio quartararo without the slightest formatting, even if it is partially translated (vouvoiement for English, tutoiement for French).
Fabio, do you have a plan for sector 4 tomorrow?
fabio quartararo : " There is no legal plan (laughs)! We looked precisely at the last corner in video analysis, and we do not lose in the last corner. So we know where the 4/10s are. Almost 4/10 on average, and over 23 rounds, that's a lot. »
Is it possible to change anything for the race?
« No, of course not, but in the end I give my best. Maybe I made a little mistake because I lost the front at turn 2 and maybe I could have improved my time, but not my position because I set my time on the second lap. But it wouldn't have been a big change and I wouldn't have improved by half a second. »
The plan is always the same: A perfect start and a very aggressive first round. And then ?
« And then we'll see, but it's a shame because I'm very happy with my pace because I feel very comfortable and we have the pace to fight for victory. But you know, it's exactly the same thing since the start of the year: I can have a good pace, a pace 3/10 faster than the others, but in the race I will ultimately be behind. This is the problem. Qualification is very important. P6 was the maximum, maximum, maximum, so I think we can still do something very good tomorrow. »
You tried the new chassis again today. Have you decided to take it tomorrow?
« Yes, today we used the new chassis. If it's better, we'll see, but for this race we will use this chassis. »
Do you feel a certain difference?
« Not really. It's hard to say. Maybe it's a little better for turning in slow corners but there aren't many slow corners here. But only in turn seven where I can feel it helps a little, but Misano was a track where the chassis seemed a little better because there were a lot of small corners. There, I felt the improvement better than here. »
You always give your best and you are always there: Are you proud of your driving?
" Yes. You know, when you do this for the first time, it's good, but there comes a point where, in the first run, you see red helmets before the last sector. Being sixth at 4/10, you can perhaps be proud but a lot of bad words come to mind (laughs). But eventually I'm starting to get used to it and we know where the 4/10s are. At least 4/10. »
Do you have a plan to keep tire pressure under control?
« I think the plan, as we don't have pole position, is to start with the lowest pressure because we will be behind a lot of bikes. Or at least a few motorbikes, and the pressure will mount. It's a problem because I have to use a lot of braking force, so we'll see if the pressure doesn't build up too much. This will be my biggest opponent tomorrow, the front tire pressure »
In Misano you said there were no places that allowed you to overtake. Is this the case here too or can the layout help you?
« Unfortunately no. But I will have to do aggressive overtaking and if we have to go into contact we will go, but that will be my only solution for this race. »
Will you talk to Enea before the race to ask her to attack Pecco?
« (Laughs) No, Enea is in a different situation. He's a little further away, but in the end he's very fast on this track, so we'll see tomorrow. I think he and Pecco have the same pace, so I hope I can stay with them in the race.
»
The first two turns are going to be tricky at the start…
« Yes, it's tricky, because today in qualifying I was quite careful and I lost the front almost right, so I think tomorrow we will have to be careful at the start, but also aggressive because I have to take a lot risk in the first lap, so I'm going to try to really get the tire temperature up in the warm-up lap and then we'll see how it goes. »
Does this 6th place have to do with the difficulties you encounter on this circuit, or is it only due to the bike?
« No, I've never had a problem on a tour here, it's simply that there is no solution. When you see that I'm still wearing a red helmet in the last sector, you can tell where the problem is: In the last sector, there is only one turn, so you can see the problem quite quickly. It's not the bend that handicaps me, it's the two straight lines (laughs). The turn is not a problem. »
Is this the first time you've felt so good here while driving?
« Yes ! Yes, because especially on the race pace, frankly I was really impressed by the number of laps I did in 1'47: I've never done that! And even the pace was very consistent, so I think it's very interesting.
»
How are you on worn tires?
“I'm not bad: We have less deterioration than last year and we are going much faster, so it's interesting to see our evolution, and above all we have different problems from those of last year, but those of this year are better. »
Results of Qualifying 2 of the Aragon MotoGP Grand Prix:
Results of Qualifying 1 of the Aragon MotoGP Grand Prix:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
