Unlike the 2022 edition, the 2023 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix was very frustrating for fabio quartararo !
Of course, we can always find positive in everything, like his initial start during the Sprint or his race on Sunday which he finished 10th after starting 16th and having received two Long Lap penalties, but the Yamaha rider mainly remembers the current problems of the M1, the main one of which seems to be the impossibility of exploiting its rhythm as soon as a driver precedes it.
As usual, we report his words here without the slightest formatting, even if it is translated from English.
fabio quartararo : " I could have had something broken in the impact, so I'm lucky I didn't do anything avoir. Bezzecchi was in front, I was in the middle and I had no other solution. I mean I couldn't escape that accident because I just tried to brake and stop. But I bumped into Miguel. I don't know who was first, but Miguel's bike took my clutch and I hit Bezzecchi's bike. But I had no other solution. »
How can they give you a penalty for this? Of course you were surprised...
“Yes, surprised. And we don't see why. Maio (Meregalli) and Lin (Jarvis) went to Race Direction for explanations. No clear explanation was given. From our side, I think we don't see anything strange and I think (it was) clearly not worth a penalty. But you know, that's the past and I did it twice (the Long Lap penalty). »
They want to create closer races. They introduce the Sprint race. Does that make it even weirder that they penalize virtually everything?
“Well, in the end, you know, like you said, in the end, these are Sprint races and to win, especially when you start from my position this week, gaining a position at the start is super important . So of course you do your best and sometimes it can happen, like Frankie yesterday, but especially today, I didn't even want to pass anyone. I just tried to stay on my feet, but I clearly saw that it wasn't possible. »
Yesterday, Franco was penalized. But the team had the opportunity to protest. Today you have the penalty in the race, so you didn't have the opportunity to protest. Is there a difference? Do you have a preference ?
“They said they were stressed in this kind of situation, that they were in a hurry and in a hurry, but you know, it's hard to say 'you're penalized' when you're not sure. And after the race you don't completely agree that there is a penalty. And in the end, for the second, I didn't even see that I had gone out on the line, I just checked if any motorcycles were coming, and I had to start again, but yes, it's difficult to do everything to understand.
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You will have a meeting at Le Mans between all the drivers and the judges, at the safety commission. What are you going to tell them?
“I mean… I'd like to say what I think, but we're just going to have a discussion and see how it's possible to make this kind of decision. »
Without your two long lap penalties, the pace wasn't so bad in the race?
“It was bad, it was bad for us, you know. I will try to be very clear about this. During the warm-up this morning, I have never been so fast with the medium tire. I mean 37.1 with lots of fuel. We have these two problems, one is the time attack, but also today I was behind Augusto (Fernández) for 10 laps. And there was no way for me to get close and try to pass, and we are, in my opinion, almost a second slower in the race than we can do. In the morning, 37,1 with low temperatures might be OK, but for me our base is 38,0 or big 37, and we haven't been able to do any laps. And as soon as I overtake someone and create a gap, I can ride a little better and I catch another rider. That's the problem, because I'm fast, I feel I'm fast, I ride well, but there are situations that I can't control.
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Results of the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
