This Friday, November 12, 2021, fabio quartararo answered questions from journalists from the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste (Valencia), at the end of the first day of the Valencian Community Grand Prix.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the French world champion pilot, who a double revenge to take, both in his last race and in those contested in Valencia last year, but is not currently in the top 10.
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).
Generally speaking, do you know the reason why you were able to use the Yamaha much better this year?
fabio quartararo : " Honestly, I was able to understand the bike a lot better. Throughout the year, I had an excellent feeling. I think that until yesterday it was like that, always with an excellent feeling with which I could attack to my maximum, and I think it's because of that. I was also always able to push myself to the limit, and that was good. It's because of all that that I was able to have an excellent feeling and really understand the bike well. »
Apart from top speed, what are your other demands from Yamaha for 2022?
« To be honest, this is the only request I have, because I really want to focus on this. Of course, I always want more rear grip and more turning ability, like everyone else in the paddock, but already if they bring the same bike more top speed and horsepower, I would be happy. »
Coming back to your first answer, does that mean you didn't understand the bike well today?
« I was lost ! Totally lost! I fell and I don't know why, and that's the worst thing you can have: You fall and you don't know why. Everything was fine but the front end was very aggressive and swerved very aggressively so you don't understand why. Today the bike was super aggressive even though I used it like it did all year, so we have to find something because it's really difficult to set a time and be consistent. And on top of that we are very slow, so we have to find a solution. »
Was it the same behavior as in Valencia last year?
« To be honest, yes! Very similar. You don't know what's happening, you don't know where you are, and you have no feeling ahead. The bike turns very well, but it's very aggressive and there's no feeling at the front, so we're a little lost. I mean, I'm a little lost today, but the team is looking to see if there was anything weird. I also lost a lot of time in turn 1 because I was very careful in this corner, but in many other corners the feeling on the bike was very strange. »
Where did you encounter the most problems: In the wet or in the dry?
« This morning we weren't expecting rain, so we weren't able to put our settings on the bike because it took quite a while to do. My feeling wasn't too bad this morning, but this afternoon it was terrible. I mean, I just didn't have the feeling! This is something I can't understand, I just drove normally. I've done 17 races, and from FP1 in Qatar to Portimão, the feeling has been the same, and we arrive here and we're completely lost. It's something very strange and I'm very looking forward to the meeting with the team because there is something I can't understand. »
It's been two somewhat complicated weekends and we can't help but make the link with the title in Misano. Do you say to yourself that you were lucky to be titled in Italy, because otherwise it could have been complicated here, or would it have been different here if you hadn't already been titled?
« No, in Portimão it was something different. I think if I had had to play for the title there, it wouldn't have happened like this: I would have been smarter and I would have finished in five or sixth position. So there is no connection with that, and here on this circuit there is no connection with the title that I had in Misano. It's just that in Portimão, I was first in FP1, first in FP2, second in FP3 at 1/1000, so we were in from the start but we had complications. And there, we have no feeling but I think it has nothing to do with the title we had in Misano. »
Don't you also want to be on vacation a little, physically or nervously?
« No, there's not really a "can't wait for the holidays", but it's just that it's frustrating to be at a Grand Prix and not understand what's happening, especially since it's the last one . There's no feeling, and that's something that annoys me the most, knowing that I don't understand why it happens here, and last year it was the same thing: It was a disaster. So no, there isn’t really that feeling of saying “can’t wait for the holidays”. »
Is there anything different on your bike that could explain why it was aggressive today?
« In the rain, yes. As I said earlier, we have a set up that takes a little time to do, and it started to rain just five minutes before the end of Moto3. So it takes a little time to do it and our weather forecast said it wasn't going to rain, but it rained and we didn't have time to make this adjustment. So we started with a setting with which I knew that unfortunately I wasn't at the best, but frankly it was just in the last sector that we lost a lot this morning. Otherwise, I was at 8/10 until the third sector: It's not great, but it wasn't a disaster either. So the explanation this morning was mainly because we didn't have time to change our setting. »
Results of FP2 of the MotoGP Valencian Community Grand Prix:
Credit Ranking: motogp.com
