MotoGP Japan Motegi J3 Conference Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha/2): Márquez's teaching, the new goal, etc. (Entirety)

The conference held after the Japanese Grand Prix brought together Marc Márquez, Fabio Quartararo and Andrea Dovizioso.

As usual, we report here the raw words of Fabio Quartararo, without the slightest journalistic interpretation.

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Fabio, congratulations on your third second place in four races. You are also the Rookie of the Year, and this is a magical moment for you. During the warm-up, you tried the medium rear tire: were you tempted to take it  and, in your opinion, would that have made a difference, or was Marc too strong today?

Fabio Quartararo : “We tried it during warm-up to be able to compare the two tires, and I felt better with the softer one. With the team, we said to ourselves that if the temperature rose significantly we would need to use the medium. But I think, looking at the pace they had, it changes a little bit but not a lot, so I think we made the right decision. As I said, with our bike it's good to create a small gap on the first lap, and that's what we did. And yes, Marc was super fast today and I was really at the limit during the first laps trying to keep up with him. But this second place is really good. »

You are now Rookie of the Year, which was your goal at the start of the year, and you lead the independent drivers' championship. The independent teams' title could also go to Petronas: are you looking forward to the next races?

“Yes, I'm very happy because during the tests in Malaysia, we set ourselves the goal of scoring between 50 and 90 points, as well as being the Rookie. So it's much better than we expected and I'm very happy for the team because it's only our first year in MotoGP, for me and for the team. So I hope we get this title for the team. »

During this race, it was really your first chance to be able to observe Marc for a long time. What did you learn and did it give you any ideas for how you can close this gap in the future?

“Marc's pace was better than ours during this weekend but I was able to analyze a few trajectories, more than what we were missing. I think this helped me a lot to save the tire. For example in turn #1, during qualifying practice, I maintained much more speed. Then in that first corner, I took the same line as him and I widened, and I think that helped us quite a bit to save the tire. I wasn't close enough to see exactly what we were missing, but it's true that we struggled a lot in acceleration with the worn tire. It is therefore an important point to improve, but it is again a race where we learned to manage the tire, even if we struggled at the end: we managed to set a good time in another way. And I think that's the main thing we learned here. »

Your race last year in Moto2 was perfect. How would you compare this one?

“Last year I was in Moto2. This year we knew that if we chose the soft rear tire we would really be at the limit at the end of the race. Currently, I wouldn't say that we had a perfect race but that it was the best result we could get because Marc was much faster than us. So I think it wasn't like in Thailand where we fought for victory until the last corner. Here Marc had already pulled away by two or three seconds, and second place was the best we could get here in Motegi. »

Among the three circuits that remain to be done, which is the best to try to beat Marc?

“I think finishing three times in a row behind someone who is an eight-time world champion is not bad (laughs)! I think Australia will be a beneficial circuit for us, so I think we have to stay focused and work like we did this weekend: focus on the tires and the settings, since we don't have them. changed badly this weekend. But more than a circuit, I think we have to concentrate on enjoying it and trying to fight for the podium. »

MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix standings:

Classification and photo credit: MotoGP.com