This Sunday March 20, 2022, Fabio Quartararo answered questions from journalists from the Mandalika Circuit on the island of Lombok, at the end of the 2022 Indonesian Grand Prix.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the French driver who demonstrated real mastery in the wet today.
As usual, we report here the words of Fabio Quartararo without the slightest formatting, even if it is partially translated (vouvoiement in English, tutoiement in French).
Fabio, in conditions where you were not the most competitive in the past, you shone today…
fabio quartararo : " Yes, to be honest this result is really very good because when you have been expecting a dry race all weekend and have had a fantastic pace overall, you feel very good. And the 20 laps were a little better for us because when you have tire degradation, I feel that we lack a little acceleration, so seven laps less was better for us because we were able to attack from the start until 'at the end. My pace in the dry was very solid but I found something in the wet. On every circuit I always ask for more rear grip, and here the grip was fantastic. It took me a while to realize that we could go that fast in the wet and in the end, when I saw that I was P5, I felt that I could do a little better than that result. So I'm very happy to be in this position. »
Yesterday, your pole position was 1'31.0. Today you did 1'38.8 on a completely wet track. How did you do ?
« Yes, it was fast because, already, when you are around 10 seconds from your best time in the dry, it starts to be really fast. I think less than eight seconds is something really special and you can only do that with the new tarmac at Sachsenring. But yes, the grip was fantastic and I hope that all the circuits we go to this year will have this kind of grip (Smile). »
When you fell back to fifth place, it must have made things complicated to be able to come back and fight for the podium…
« Yes, I couldn't see anything and I made two mistakes, two stupid mistakes, going over the curbs in the last corner: I skidded and I had no traction. That's the thing I miss a bit because initially I wasn't that bad, but like I said before, it took me a while to realize how fast you could go in the wet. On the last lap I attacked in some places and I never expected to hit the elbow in the wet. I found something special on this track and I hope I can do it again on other circuits.
»
Fabio, Jack Miller had harsh words for you…
« I don't care because he is the one who has done aggressive overtaking in the past. And I think my overtaking really wasn't aggressive. I just didn't expect to touch him, but the contact wasn't anything big. It was really a small contact and I don't know if he saw it on TV, but before speaking I think it would be better to watch it because I didn't do anything wrong. »
Have you ever spoken to him?
« No. He spoke to me on the bike but I couldn't hear anything. I saw that he wasn't happy, but I didn't make any particular movement, as if I was crashing into him. He just passed me at turn 1 and then I saw it was widening and I just crossed the line. So I would also like to see the comments of other pilots to see if it was a disrespectful maneuver or not. But for my part, if I make a bad move, I say “sorry”. But for this one, I have nothing to say. »
How happy are you to prove today, to those who said you weren't fast in the wet, that it's wrong?
« To be honest, it's been a long time since I had this feeling with the bike. In 2019, we didn't have a wet race but I was always in the top 10 in every session we did. In 2020 and 2021 I was always outside the top 10 and couldn't have very good races. At Le Mans last year, I made a podium, but overall it was because I created a gap with the others of more than 10 seconds on slicks when it was raining. That’s why I made a podium. But here it was completely wet and I had grip at the rear. That's the thing I ask of Yamaha for these conditions, and that's what we did.
»
How did you motivate yourself to move up from fifth to second place?
« You know, in every situation I try to see the best I can get, and when I was fifth, to be honest I was never that fast in the wet and it took me a while to realize that I was driving that fast. I was fifth and I saw that I had a small margin, and sometimes when you are used to being much further back in the standings you can say to yourself that it is a good result, but I saw that I could have done a little better. I felt really good braking. I did some good overtaking, let's say not bad, and I didn't lose too much time: when I arrived at Johann and Jack, I wasI said to do it as quickly as possible because I knew the visibility was very poor. And I think I succeeded in doing what I wanted. »
Last year, for the second race of the year, in Qatar, you shared the podium with Johann Zarco. This year, for the second race of the year, you share the podium with Johann Zarco. Is this a good sign for the future?
«
I hope ! I hope it will be a very good season for both of us, because it was great to have two French players last year during the first half of the season. And two French people out of two, because in the MotoGP world championship, we don't have a national team, so it was great to have two French people in the first two positions. So I hope you are right. »
Did the rain prevent a difficult situation in the dry, and what needs to be improved on the circuit for next year?
« In my opinion, the tarmac was not bad. I don't know if Johann thinks like me but I found that in the last corner there were five or six places where the tarmac really fell apart. But other than that, I think the tarmac wasn't too bad. I think apart from the last corner everything was pretty OK. In FP1 and FP2, I received some small gravel, but Saturday and this morning it was fine, so I think the conditions are not too bad, but it's true that if it's like that they're going to have to redo the asphalt every year. This is the biggest problem. »
What can you improve for the next race?
« Top speed (laughs)! No, you know, in my opinion we have to improve something: when we have tire degradation, then we have to control when accelerating, like in the last corner in Qatar. We then lose acceleration in the straight, so we have to try to work on the rear grip. And trying to have the least degradation of the rear tire would be something really good. As for Argentina, it won't be an easy circuit for us, so we have to focus on that and try to see where we can improve. »
You have always been fast on this circuit. What is your secret and how do you find this circuit?
«
I think it's a fast circuit with heavy braking, but above all sector four is a sector where I'm really fast. And I didn't expect that because we are very good at braking in a straight line, but on the corner, normally, we are never very good. But in the dry, and especially in the wet, I felt really good in turns 15 and 16. I think it's a circuit that suits my driving style very well. Nothing more, but I had fun. »
Do you think this podium is representative of the season to come?
« I hope that the three drivers who are here will be on the podium all the time (smile) but you never know. To be honest, I always give my best and I try to always be at this press conference, there are 24 boys who want the same thing as me, so we know that the level is always higher and higher high and I think it will be even harder to be in this chair »
Were you surprised to see the race reduced, would you have preferred to do the 27 laps?
« Wow, 20 was enough (laughs)! To be honest, I think it was because of something different, because they said it was because of the tarmac falling apart, but it wasn't critical. I don't think five or six more laps in Moto2 and seven more laps in MotoGP would have changed anything. We did all of Friday and all of Saturday, but it was great because this race was going to be long. »
You say Yamaha gave you the rear grip you need in the wet. Do you think Yamaha can give you any other improvements, apart from the engine?
« This is a bit of luck because when it rains on certain circuits, the tarmac has no grip, and here there is grip. Since Austin 2021, we have been using different settings on the bike, totally different, and it was already better, but now we have changed very small things on the bike, and that plus the grip of the surface helps a lot. We know that the little things we did today, if we do more of them, maybe it can help to have more grip at the rear. »
How did you spend the time waiting in the box?
« We joked, I watched a Supercross race, I called my brother, I called my mom, I called my dad. I lost my SIM card so I called the company to reserve another one. So there was plenty of time and plenty of jokes to do with the team, but when I learned that the pit lane opened at 4 a.m., it was 3:52 a.m. and I was in tap shoes, so I had to move quickly (smiles). It wasn't usual to wait that long before running. »
Do you think things will be more normal when the championship arrives in Europe?
« I think the championship is more normal when we go away. It’s a world championship so we have to go everywhere. To be honest, it was a long time coming here with the flight and everything, but it's a world championship and it's good to see the fans and hear less of the Covid stuff each time , because it ended up being quite long. Of course we have to be very careful, but it's good to be here. Regarding the result, since I think this is what you are talking about, I think everything is normal. Simply, there was a dry race and a wet race on two different circuits, and I think everyone is very competitive. So it’s going to be a fun year. »
Results of the Indonesian MotoGP Grand Prix at Mandalika Circuit:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com