As the time for the curtain to fall approaches, some riders are not unhappy to reach the end of this MotoGP season. Fabio Quartararo is one of them, although he feels he has probably done better than ever since joining the category six years ago.
When asked, on the eve of the last Grand Prix, where he sees this season, the Yamaha rider sums up his state of mind perfectly: “In terms of driving and in relation to the work carried out with the team, I think it is the best. In terms of results, it is clearly the worst.”
Currently 13th in the general classification, the 2021 world champion knows that he will post his lowest score at the end of this campaign, with an average which, to date, does not exceed 5.7 points scored per weekend . Last year, when Yamaha was already having a difficult year and Quartararo had slipped to tenth in the championship, his personal average was still 8.6 points per Grand Prix.
“Without the concessions, it would have been a disaster,” observes the Frenchman, who has been in the top 10 seven times. While he concedes that this new system was a great help, Yamaha was however lacking another help: “What he missed was pilots. We only have two, Cal [Crutchlow] is injured in the arm, we don't have a test pilot… We were all alone, basically. That, for me, was the biggest problem this year. But next year, [on aura] another factory team and the test team which is growing quite a bit.”
It is undoubtedly towards the positive that Quartararo wants to aim, boosted by the developments achieved thanks to these concessions and by his recent performances. “I think the path we have taken since Misano 2 is much better. We see that the results are not great, but at least it is developing little by little. We have only missed one Q2 since Misano 1, so the progress is there and I think next year it will be even faster.”
Fabio Quartararo finished sixth in the last Grand Prix.
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
He remembers the way he “learned to stay calm and improve the bike as best as possible”, and knows that he has stored up valuable lessons. “Of course, there are times when, deep down, you get really angry but that doesn't last very long. On the other hand, I think the way we worked this year was great. Obviously, I I expected progress to be much faster, but we found the right path and I think that, personally, in my riding, I really manage to do something more. I think it's in the moments. difficult that you really learn.”
“In terms of the project, we have grown enormously from the start of the season to now,” continues the Yamaha rider. “I expected changes to be a little quicker. On the other hand, just aesthetically, we can see that the bike has completely changed since Qatar, and even in terms of riding, I think we've done a very big step forward Even if in terms of results we don't really see it, in the last two races I qualified sixth in Thailand in Malaysia we did P5 in qualifying and P6 in the race, it's already much better. So I think we are in the process of to move forward more and more.”
“More eyes on Tuesday than on the race”
Although he is coming off two actually successful Grands Prix, Fabio Quartararo does not really have a goal for the one that is looming, apart from “access to Q2 tomorrow”. “The last two [courses]it was better. We will try to continue this momentum a little bit. Afterwards, it's certain that I have more eyes on Tuesday than on the race for the moment”, he admits.
Tuesday, the first test of the off-season awaits him, an important step to enter 2025, both with the developments made by the engineers and the arrival in the Yamaha group of the Pramac team Racing. “There are a lot of things to do. There is also a new team that is getting started, we have quite a few things to try, so I really hope that we will have a little positive on this test.”
“I can’t wait to see the project when we arrive in Buriram, to see a little bit of the bike we will have for next year,” adds Quartararo, who remains focused. “I feel good. Obviously, I can't wait for the season to end because, when you are fighting for the championship or victories and podiums, the season goes by a lot faster. But when you achieve the kind of results that what we've done this year, we don't go home feeling really happy.”
“Even if we know that we did a good job in a certain way, when we come home with an 11th or 12th place, it's not fantastic. But I think we worked very well and the energy is there, I'm going to give 100% until the last round on Tuesday, and then I'll rest a little.”
