“We clearly lack power and grip”

After his fine fifth place at Sepang, Fabio Quartararo this time missed the points during the last sprint race of the season. And he barely missed them, because it was entering the last lap that Brad Binder took ninth place from him, the last to bring a small reward.

The Yamaha rider had started this race very well, however, because after having secured another passage in Q2 (the ninth this season and the seventh in the last eight Grands Prix), he qualified tenth then jumped to sixth place at the lights out. Quickly swallowed up, however, by the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaró, he then fought for a long time against Marco Bezzecchi at the back of a group which was formed and which also included the Ducati of Franco Morbidelli and Marc Márquez, and so Binder's KTM.

Tenth under the checkered flag, the Frenchman struggles to hide his disappointment, despite a delay of only 5.9″ and his place firmly held in this small group made up of bikes more powerful than his. “We see that we are clearly lacking in power and grip. These are the problems that we have had for far too long. We know that we have the potential to do much better, but unfortunately the bike does not allow it. not at the moment”, he sums up at the Canal+ microphone.

The lost point approaching the finish seems anecdotal for the Yamaha rider: “This point wouldn't have changed anything in this race. We had the pace to be faster but we were clearly blocked, so unfortunately I couldn't overtake.”

“It was good to see Marc quite close to me but I think he had a problem in the third corner. We couldn't attempt the slightest overtaking”, deplores Quartararo. “The one I did on Bezzecchi is not a typical overtake. Quite simply, we risk everything [pour dépasser]. I didn't know if I was going to hit him or not, so it's not pure overreach. It's difficult because our speed is very low and the grip is even worse. We're working on it but this track is really demanding in both aspects.”

Tomorrow, it's time for the last race, with one motto: have as much fun as possible despite the difficult conditions of this weekend. “I will give my best, I will try to have fun. It is certain that I had fun during this race but it is frustrating to see the lack of potential we have at the moment, especially on this circuit That said, I think it's one of the first sprints where we finished less than six seconds, so there's still a little bit of positive in this situation.”

“We’re going to try to do well and stop thinking about the bike for a few months. It’ll feel good,” smiles Fabio Quartararo as the end of a trying year approaches, which he remembers as his most disappointing in terms of results but also as the one which undoubtedly saw him progress the most.