On this Saturday, November 14, fabio quartararo answered questions from journalists from the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia at the end of the second day of the Valencian Community Grand Prix.
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 is translated from English (vouvoiement).
fabio quartararo : " I would say that the feeling in qualifying was bad. I think the amount of changes we made this weekend is much greater than what we did all season last year! We made big changes because we really thought it was going to work, and we had the same problems every time. Each time we attacked and tried to adapt to the bike, but we always had the same problems. Normally, when we drive badly like during this weekend, we put on a new tire and everything becomes OK since we regain grip at the rear and everything works well. But currently, apart from Franco who has a different bike than us, I would say that we are all riding incorrectly. »
However, you drove rather quickly during the two qualifications…
« I am 7 tenths behind Franco, and normally, qualifying is my strongest point. You put a new tire on, and I just go to the limit. Currently the limit is 30.8, and we are seven tenths behind. Unfortunately, we didn't have another tire during Q2, but I still wouldn't have improved by 7 tenths. Maybe 30.6. Between 30.5 and 30.8. And the problem is that I'm much more on the limit. Normally, I'm sunk, whereas this year, in general, I'm very (tense?) on the bike and I don't have the necessary fluidity in turns, between braking and the apex. And this is something we cannot understand, after all the changes made yesterday and today. »
How does Yamaha help you try to resolve these issues?
« Regarding this, we do not work with Yamaha. It's more of a question for the team. I have a Yamaha engineer who helps us a lot, and I really like him because he gives us ideas. You know, it's always great to have a Japanese engineer who asks you a lot of questions and talks to you a lot. It's always good, but we tried a lot of things because we thought it would be good to try them. I think the difficult time we are having now is also an experience. Unfortunately, we are going through difficult times at the moment but I think it is a very beneficial experience for the next few years. But yeah, it's understandable that, at a minimum, it's not better or worse, but something should happen with the changes we make. »
Do you have a strategy for tomorrow? Because if you want to win the championship, you have to finish ahead of Joan…
« Honestly, I don't think about Joan. I'm thinking of trying to progress as much as possible during the warm up, with changes like we made today. When we were talking in the pit, I was lost even before testing the bike with all the changes we were going to make (laughs). But I believe in these changes and the team seems confident. It's not really a strategy. The strategy will be to try to have fun and try to finish as high as possible. But honestly, right now I'm in a different state of mind than thinking about Joan. I'm more in the mindset of taking a big step forward tomorrow morning, and if I get that, then I'll think about the other topic. But not now. »
Is there anything in particular that you are banking on to get a good result tomorrow afternoon?
« This is the most important thing, because it is not because we are functioning in a bad way. Well, not in a bad way, because I believe we don't do stupid things. We're always trying to progress and try smart things, but nothing really works. So I think that tomorrow what will be very important will be to know and see if the bike works better. I always think positively and I think this is the right way to approach the race tomorrow. »
Tomorrow, temperatures will be a little higher. Can this help you?
« I don't think the temperature will change anything for us. What we're trying to work on is really the speed of passage because that's our problem and that's what we can't change, even though normally it's one of my strong points. This is a point where we lose a lot. »
You always talk about bad feelings. Concretely, can you go into detail?
« It's not even just a question of feeling, because many times, I go into the corner telling myself that we'll see what happens, that is to say without any feeling. And the bike doesn't turn. So it's not just a question of feeling, but simply, it doesn't work. Today we made so many changes to the bike that at least I should have felt something negative: “no, it's not right, we're going in the wrong direction”. But unfortunately, I don't feel anything, even though it was also one of my strong points last year; With each small change, I could feel it. There, with all the changes we made today and yesterday, and we made more changes than during the entire season last year in two days, I didn't feel anything different. So that's what's frustrating, because we see that nothing is working. »
Last year, you had a base of settings that you hardly touched all year…
« No. We would do one click, two clicks, a spring or those kinds of small changes. It was so minimal, because we had a base which was very impressive because it allowed me at the end of the season to fight for the podium in all the races. This year, we have no basis. Unfortunately, when the bike doesn't fit, the base doesn't fit at all and that's what's frustrating. That's why we say we have to make changes, because even if this bike has a base which is very fast in Jerez, very fast in Le Mans and very fast in Barcelona, here it doesn't work at all , so there is something we need to change. »
There will be no tests before February, and probably not tests at Sepang but at Jerez, with the conditions of February. So we will finally find ourselves very quickly at the first Grand Prix in Qatar without you having been able to adapt to your new team and to this bike which will not change much during the winter. Does that worry you a little?
« It worries me, yes, because last year we did 19 races on 19 different circuits, and the bike was good on all 19 circuits. This year, we did 14 races on seven or eight different circuits. And out of the seven different circuits, there were only three or four that worked, and the other half were a disaster. It's something I have in mind for next year but I hope Yamaha will listen to me, will listen to us. But I'm definitely worried, because there are several races where I'm not having fun at all. »
Q2 results of the MotoGP Valencian Community Grand Prix in Valencia:
Q1 results of the MotoGP Valencian Community Grand Prix in Valencia:
Credit rankings: MotoGP.com
