Fabio Quartararo salvages the situation in Jerez: "In dry conditions, we would have finished outside the Top 10"

At the end of a race disrupted by crashes in the Andalusian downpours, fabio quartararo He snatched two valuable points during the Jerez Sprint. For the second time this season, after the Brazilian Sprint (6th), the Frenchman finished in the Top 9 on Saturday. However, this result is more due to the carnage among his rivals than to any significant improvement in his Yamaha M1. Under normal conditions I wouldn't have scored any points. the number 20 hammered home to the media present on site, including AUTOhebdo. That's already two points gained. »

Starting from a distant seventeenth place on the grid, the 2021 world champion capitalized on his rivals' misfortunes to climb to seventh place by lap ten. As rain began to play a role in the Jerez-Ángel Nieto circuit, the Yamaha rider saw more than one other rider caught out by the puddles. I'm trying to take more risks, but it's complicated because I saw how Jack passed me, and if he even manages to finish the lap, that's fantastic. But he crashed at turn 6, so there are limits."

Fabio Quartararo therefore returned to the pits to change to a bike suitable for the rain, but too late. It started raining heavily as I approached the final corner, so unfortunately I pitted a lap too late. That's when you realize you've made a mistake, but I think plenty of others have done the same thing. »

Despite this positive result, the performance of his machine is still in question. In the rain, on the drying surface, the feeling is really bad. We're really lacking performance in the rain. The less water there is, the harder it is. He added. Today there was a lot of water and we were with the medium and it wasn't going well. I don't even know what to say because it's the same thing every day. "On the eve of the Grand Prix, optimism is therefore not the order of the day for the Nice native." It will be even worse on long relays. Unfortunately, I have nothing to gain from this for the race tomorrow. »

Unless such an incredible scenario were to repeat itself in the Grand Prix on Sunday, the race is likely to prove laborious for Fabio Quartararo in Jerez, the scene of his greatest epics but also of cruel setbacks.

Interview by Luca Bartolomeo.

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