MotoGP Misano 2 J3 Debriefing Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha/4): All the details on the penalty, etc. (Entirety)

On this Sunday, September 20, fabio quartararo answered questions from journalists from Misano at the end of the Grand Prix ofEmilia-Romagna.

We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the French pilot.

As usual, we report here the words of fabio quartararo without the slightest formatting, even if the first part (vouvoiement) is translated from English.

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fabio quartararo : " What I can say is that it was a good race for me today. We expected a podium and for me the end result is a podium, even if we didn't get the 16 points. But I'm happy: I felt good on the bike, but not extremely good. The goal was to finish on the podium, and for me it feels like third place. Unfortunately, I received a Long Lap penalty but the authorities did not send me any message to warn me that I was going off the track. So I was a little surprised. »
« It was very difficult for me to overtake, but that's another side of things. What I can say is that I am satisfied with my race because I fought until the end to make a podium. This is very good for me because I didn't make any mistakes. Of course, I'm very disappointed not to have gone up there, but that's how it is. »

You didn't execute the Long Lap penalty because you didn't see the message?

« I saw the Long Lap penalty message when I was on the straight on the last lap. So it was too late! But also, I think it's something they need to work on because when you get a caution for exceeding the track limits, you pay a lot more attention. Normally, when you go off the track three times, you take a caution and you are a lot more careful. I didn't get any warning and it was really hard for me to concentrate (on it). As soon as I saw the (message from) Long Lap on the straight, I was like 'wow, it's very strange that I didn't even get a warning message'. I do not know what to say. It's something they have to work on, because when you watch the Moto3 race, you see that they are sending the message to the TVs, but at that moment you are not watching the TV. So for me it's a mistake on their part, but on the other hand I went off the track five times, so it's also my fault. But I was expecting a message from Race Direction and I received nothing. We just tried the radio system and all that, but in the end, it's not great on their part. »

Is it possible that you didn't see the message on your dashboard?

« No no. I look at the scoreboard three times a lap, so that's something I'm sure of. I would have seen it, because you also have an orange light on the dashboard. So when someone sends you a message, you see it directly. This is therefore something that the Race Direction should not have sent. But hey, that's how it is and I can't say anything. »

How important were the tires today, because it seems like during the race you had some ups and downs?

« I struggled a lot because the tire was very bad at the start. I don't know why he had a lot of slippage and a lot of lack of grip. Then, in the middle of the race, I felt better because the tire was working better. And at the end, I couldn't overtake Pol. Unfortunately, I could make better exits because he suffered a lot on the go-around but his engine is very powerful, and we struggle a lot, so it was impossible to overtake him, even between turns two and three which is the place where we normally overtake. So it's difficult to say anything about that, but yes, the tires were a bit more difficult than usual. »

Does the fact that Dovizioso is behind you give you a little satisfaction? And what do you expect from Barcelona?

« Honestly, I'm not very concerned about the championship at the moment. I know that we have the same number of points as Maverick and that we are one point behind Dovizioso, but at the moment I only see that we are struggling a lot to overtake the others. If you don't win like Maverick today, it's very difficult to win a race. I won my two races like that, like Franco and like Maverick, but as soon as you're behind someone who has a lot more engine than you, you can't really do anything better. I'm happy for Maverick because he deserves it, and we'll see for Barcelona: It's a circuit that I love, but the straight is 1 km. So I don't know what to think. It’s a track I’m looking forward to being at because I feel like we can manage to do something really good there. I'm very happy that there is a race next week. »

Are you saying that you expected to receive a message from the race director?

« No. I'm not saying I was waiting for a message. I say that it is the job of the marshals to ensure that when you exceed the limit too many times, you must have a warning regarding the limits of the track. In the end, the last two times I overtook, my front wheel was 1mm off the green, and you don't even know if you're on the green or not. Honestly, it's a lot easier to tell when you're watching TV than when you're on your motorcycle. If a driver exceeds the limit too much, he should receive a warning message so that he can be much more careful. I would have paid a lot more attention in the last laps. »

Do you feel when you go over the limit in turn 16?

" No ! »

How did the holeshot device work?

« It works well. I had a good start and I'm happy because we made progress, and that's something positive. »

When you were behind Pol, apart from the obvious fact that you lacked power, it seems that you also lacked the confidence to overtake him. When Joan Mir overtook him, did that give you the confidence to do the same?

« No ! Pol is a driver who brakes super late. He was struggling a lot with the rear and I saw that he was sliding a lot and that his bike was moving a lot. But he had a lot more power than us and he took a slight advantage before braking very late. That's why he blocked us behind. For Joan, it was the same thing: At turn 1, he had good acceleration with the Suzuki engine, and thanks to this good acceleration, he remained close to him, at the same level as him. We never really had the chance to be that close. I overtook him at turn three, which for me is one of the strangest places to overtake, because it's not a corner for overtaking. But this is the way we need to double down. It's not very easy. »

Sorry to come back to this, but you say you didn't receive a message on your dashboard and that's why you had to speak to the race director? And how does that work with the team, because they should have seen the message and they should have pointed that out to you with the sign?

« Yes, it's something that we have to... Let's say: I haven't received a message from the race director, but it's not something that merits an appeal because, as I said, I I had exceeded the runway limit five times. But yeah, maybe next time I'll ask the team to put something on the sign, to be sure. »
« I don't know. Honestly, I'm very frustrated because when you get a warning you pay a lot more attention, and I didn't get anything so I drove normally. You know, we're all on the limit and if you step out a little bit, we can all make mistakes. »

We are halfway through the season but the last part includes circuits which are not necessarily favorable to the Yamahas because of their straight lines. How do you see this?

« It's hard to say because last year our top speed wasn't great, but we were still able to manage to get a very good result in Barcelona. There, our pace is good and we know we can be competitive. But in the end, I don't know because here, there is no big straight but there are three straights where you go into fifth or sixth gear. In the end, Barcelona only has one very long one and requires more passing speed and turning ability, so I'm crossing my fingers that I'm right, and regardless, I'll give my best until Portimão. It's very difficult to think about the other races, like Aragon which will be one of the toughest, but I'm really looking forward to it.»

Grand Prix classificationEmilia-Romagna MotoGP:

Classification and photo credit: MotoGP.com