Quartararo frustrated with his Yamaha in Barcelona: "We clearly lack power and grip"

A Saturday in half-tones for fabio quartararo, on a Barcelona circuit that he nevertheless loves. The Frenchman finished the last Sprint of the season in 10th place, just outside the points zone. A position that he nevertheless held at the start of the last lap: unfortunately, the Yamaha was no match for the power of Brad Binder's KTM, who took 9th place – and therefore the last point in the running – in the final loop.

A sad conclusion to a day that had looked promising: after snatching his qualification in Q2 with the 2nd time in Q1, the 2021 world champion – who started 10th – had ideally started his Sprint by climbing to 6th place from the first turns. However, facing the Ducati, the Aprilia and the KTM of the South African, the Niçois was not able to keep his place in the Top 9, due to a delicate Yamaha which, as is often the case, is seriously lacking in engine power. "We can see that we are clearly lacking power and grip, regretted Fabio Quartararo on Canal+ after the Sprint. These are the problems we have had for far too long. We know we have the potential to do much better, but unfortunately the bike does not allow it at the moment.

Quartararo goes " try to have fun » for the last GP of the year

"This point would not have changed anything in this race. We had the pace to be faster but we were clearly blocked, so unfortunately I could not overtake, he confided, disappointed but not dejected to have failed so close to the points. It was good to see Marc [Marquez] quite close to me but I think he had a problem in the third corner. We can't try to overtake at all. The one I did on Bezzecchi is not a typical overtake. You just risk everything [to overtake]. I didn't know if I was going to touch him or not, so it's not a pure overtake. 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 on both aspects."

This Sunday, Fabio Quartararo will conclude what is undeniably the most complicated season of his career in MotoGPThe Frenchman hopes to finish on a positive note, having shown some good performances in recent weeks despite a Yamaha that is still below par compared to the competition. "I will give my all, I will try to have fun, said the Niçois. I had fun during [the Sprint] for sure but it's frustrating to see the lack of potential we have at the moment, especially on this track. That said, I think it's one of the first sprints where we've 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's going to be good."

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