Quartararo, still all alone against the Ducati 

It's now a habit, fabio quartararo will once again have to compete against his handlebar rivals from Ducati and Aprilia, as powerful as his Yamaha YZR-M1. But, once again, the champion is not giving up and will give everything he can to try not to lose ground in the general standings. 

The Frenchman is not completely disappointed with his qualifications... he admits to doing what he can. “I’m starting to get used to these Saturdays,” he lamented. I give my best, I can't do better. I am disappointed with the position, but I am not disappointed in turn. »

The Yamaha representative will start from the second row on the grid and he assures that his pace was good during the final free practice session, but will it be enough to make the difference on one of the grounds of Ducati game? “I came out with a tire that was already 16 laps old. We had really “smashed” it on Friday. This is a tire with which we had already pushed a little too hard. We wanted to put a little more spin on it, and that's fine, it went well. We turned in 30.6 after 22 laps with a tire that had already had quite a few laps and was in bad shape. Not bad. »

“We are always one, two or even three tenths slower”

To stand up to his opponents, Quartararo has no particular strategy. “I don’t know, honestly,” he stressed. I was able to do a few laps behind Pecco and it was very difficult. But as usual, I will do my best, give my best, but it's true that we are suffering a lot here. » In any case, he will have to stay as close as possible to Francesco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro, his main threats to the general.

In comparison to the year, the Niçois added: “Last year, it had already been a little bit (gap against the Ducati, editor's note), but it was much less, he said We had the potential to practically only do the first lines. But here, we can no longer achieve times similar to the Ducati, we are always one, two or even three tenths slower. It's a lot more difficult than last year, but we're trying to hold on as much as possible. »

As a reminder, Yamaha has three podiums in the Red Bull Ring, two of which are to the credit of Quartararo. Will he manage to do better than third on the Austrian track? Response tomorrow from 14 p.m.