This is a comment from the 2021 MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo, looking to regain his title in 2023, made in Portimao which gives credence to the adage that the best can be the enemy of the good. He also calls out on Yamaha's prolific activity on an M1 which seemed frozen and which is currently being reworked in all directions. This is what the Frenchman had requested from the Japanese. But have they overdone it?
Furthermore, this situation at Yamaha is to be compared with that of the compatriot Honda including the RC213V at Portimao, for the last tests of the off-season, was hardly fundamentally different from that at the start of the break, discovered with the enthusiasm that we know from the eight-time title winner, in November in Valencia.
But at Yamaha we pulled out all the stops, from aerodynamics to the engine. With astonishing results, ranging from satisfaction to great dismay. A situation which seems to have been stabilized on a Sunday afternoon in the Algarve, at the end of which fabio quartararo managed to put together a performance that firmly placed him in the top three.
Less than ten days before the launch of the season on the same site for the Portuguese Grand Prix, it's encouraging. The fact remains that the Frenchman took stock of the six days devoted to the pre-season test, from Valencia to Sepang via Portimao.
Fabio Quartararo: “ I expect more problems but I'm sure we can fight in the second half of the season«
We read of him on motorcyclesports : " for the last three or four years we have had practically the same motorcycle, but this year we have changed a lot of things, even too many. The others work and evolve step by step, but for us it's been three years with the same bike and suddenly it's completely different ».
From this evaluation, he makes this observation: « for me we have lost our way, but we went back to using what we had in the past, but with small modifications. I expect more problems at the start of the season, but if Yamaha continues to work and bring something new, I'm sure we can fight in the second half of the season », Underlined the 2021 champion after the tests on Portuguese soil.
He ends by mentioning the injury he suffered this winter? It will be recalled that Quarterly broke his wrist: “ So far, I haven't felt anything serious yet. Saturday I had some pain, but nothing serious, during the morning. But on Saturday I did 90 laps and 60 or 65 on Sunday, so there is nothing to worry about. There have been a lot of laps and I feel very good physically ". In less than 10 days, it will be the big leap into a 2023 vintage which is already historic with the adoption of a new Grand Prix format, integrating a sprint race.
