Achieving a first victory in Valencia at the end of his first MotoGP season by starting from his sixth pole position would have been the icing on the cake for Fabio Quartararo who has earned his stripes among the elite. The Frenchman will ultimately be content with a seventh podium behind that insatiable devil Marc Márquez. A new defeat against the best of all of the moment which does not spoil an impressive journey which gave him the title of rookie of the year, that of best private driver and fifth place in the championship...
To properly assess the feat accomplished by fabio quartararo this year, we must remember the comments at the end of last season, when the announcement was made of his commitment to a new Petronas team and new Yamaha satellite structure... The majority were more than doubtful about this bet on a 19-year-old Frenchman. Started with a Jorge Martinez who tried by all means to fit in his Alvaro Bautista. And yet…
Quarterly is now essential in the paddock. He will have a state-of-the-art Yamaha in 2020. Speaking to Sky Sports, he commented at the finish of his Valencia race: “ a perfect year, considering in 2018 almost everyone said I didn't deserve MotoGP and it was way too early. I worked 100% to stay ahead and show that I deserve this opportunity. We made seven podiums and six pole positions. We must work even harder to fight with Marquez. »
The Frenchman fought several times against Marc Márquez and he does not despair of finally being able to beat him, even if it will obviously require a lot of work: “ Marc is at a high level today, the bike suits him and we are in the first year of MotoGP. In qualifying we are going strong, while in the race we are struggling more. Today we did well. »
Regarding the off-season, Fabio does not know if Yamaha will ask him for the development of the future M1: “ I don’t know… you have to talk to them. We lack the engine, we lose a lot against Márquez. If we correct this aspect, we can be much closer to victory.»
The French rider from the Yamaha Petronas team made a qualitative leap with the arrival in the MotoGP category, he himself admits that something has changed in his head: “ when I had this opportunity, everything changed in my head and I only thought about MotoGP. Even when I'm at home, I think about MotoGP, because I want to fight. » A good omen for the future!
MotoGP Valencia J3: ranking
| 1 | 93 | Marc MÁRQUEZ | Honda | 41'21.469 |
| 2 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | +1.026 |
| 3 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | +2.409 |
| 4 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | +3.326 |
| 5 | 42 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | +3.508 |
| 6 | 12 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | +8.829 |
| 7 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | +10.622 |
| 8 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +22.992 |
| 9 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARÓ | Aprilia | +32.704 |
| 10 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARÓ | KTM | +32.973 |
| 11 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | +42.795 |
| 12 | 82 | Mika Kallio | KTM | +45.732 |
| 13 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Honda | +51.044 |
| 14 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | + 1'04.871 |
| 15 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | KTM | + 1'16.487 |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 29 | Andrea Iannone | Aprilia | 1 laps | |
| 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Yamaha | 9 lapses | |
| 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 14 lapses | |
| 5 | johann zarco | Honda | 14 lapses | |
| 27 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | 14 lapses | |
| 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 17 lapses | |
| 51 | Michael PIRRO | Ducati | 19 lapses |
