Fabio Quartararo wore the face of bad days at the end of this first day of the Spanish Grand Prix which was a total disillusionment. And for good reason. On a Jerez track where he has always shone in MotoGP, and where he thought he would experience an enchanted interlude with a chance to finally shine this year, it was total disillusionment that awaited him around the corner. On one of his favorite circuits, the Yamaha is no longer there, and his teammate Franco Morbidelli, ranked just behind him, supports the same thesis. Because this is not an accident. The Frenchman warns that the rest of the meeting will be the same. The opportunity to question the technical evolution of the M1 in recent years, which the tricolor does without indulgence. A trap he has locked himself in until the end of 2024…
fabio quartararo will probably have a bad night Jerez, undermined by the disappointment of a Friday that we will have to study closely to understand the reasons for what must be called a disaster. Because the Jerez route has never been so unrewarding for a Yamaha than during this first day of the Spanish Grand Prix. The two factory M1s are only in 16th and 17th place. Which is very far from the mark.
When we listen to the 2021 World Champion, we realize that the evil is deep: “ It's hard to pinpoint what was wrong... In fact everything... The feeling on the bike going into the corner, I don't even know if I'm going to stay seated. I was at the limit all the time ". A situation that generated anger, that of despair: “ in the last lap I said to myself: I don't care what happens. Then I lost the front at turn 7 and went far. Almost everyone improved in the afternoon. I don't think a quick walk in the morning would have changed anything about our current problems. ».
fabio quartararo continues his analysis on motorsport magazine : " the problem is that I don't know why we are so slow. The bike is very aggressive and we cannot turn. It's very difficult. Even the running pace is bad. If you're bad on a lap but have good pace, you can still learn something from it. With the new tires I was slower than many of my competitors. At the moment, a result like last year's second place is Impossible ».
You can tell how furious @FabioQ20 was in Practice 2! 😠
Despite riding to the absolute limit the @YamahaMotoGP rider has only managed to finish in P15! 😕#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/NlMZXssGTy
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 28, 2023
Fabio Quartararo: “ It's now my fifth year in MotoGP with Yamaha, and I've never taken a big step forward »
In passing, his teammate Franco Morbidelli also confirmed the impressions of Quarterly : “ we suffer with new tires. There is definitely a problem. It's even worse at high temperatures. It's hard ».
A unison which then turned out to be an opportunity to empty one’s bag… “ Every year we lose more of the strengths of the past. Cornering speed was better four years ago, there was more stability. We lost this ». Morbidely could only confirm the regression: “ the bike is much more difficult to ride. Some might think I'm too stupid for that or that my knee injury changed my riding, but no. The package is just completely different from what I was used to before ».
fabio quartararo only knew the Yamaha since his arrival in MotoGP in 2019. Last year, he extended his contract with the Japanese factory team until 2024. And he is no longer too happy about this renewed lease… “ It's now my fifth year in MotoGP with Yamaha, and I've never taken a big step forward. We do a lot of tours and every year I slow down and we don't know why. This is where the frustration comes from ».
For the rest of the meeting, the Frenchman predicted: “ it was a little better in the morning, but we must learn to understand why we have such big problems. We will take a close look at where we are. I'm wasting time. I hope we find a solution. I can definitely also adapt some things to my riding style in order to be at least a little better ". The fact remains that given the situation, it will be difficult for him to get out of Q1, notably with the world champion Francis Bagnaia and the leader of the world championship Marco Bezzecchi as direct competitors…
Combined P1-P2 results from the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
