A first positive assessment for Quartararo ahead of the German GP

After the first nine races of the 2021 season, fabio quartararo led the championship with 156 points and 34 lengths ahead of his closest pursuer. This season, the Nice native has a total of 147 units ahead of the German GP. After his Barcelona blunder, Aleix Espargaro is in second position, 22 points behind the reigning world champion.  

Last year, if Marc Marquez returned to victory in Germany, Quartararo still managed to climb to the third step of the podium. Building on the results recorded during the last two meetings, the Frenchman could well take the opportunity to drive the point home further. “Mugello and Barcelona were excellent; good pace in Barcelona all weekend, Saturday and Sunday, explains Quartararo. Mugello was even better because I felt bad all weekend, we were able to have a very good race. Last year at Sachsenring the race was really good, we finished on the podium. And Assen is a circuit that I really like. I'm super motivated and I hope to do well. » 

“I am super motivated and I hope to do well” 🎙️@FabioQ20 is going to bring the fight to the ring ⚔️#MotoGP | #GermanGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/iOH7gz3sVa

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 16, 2022

On paper, the Barcelona and Mugello circuits should have posed problems for the Yamaha, which suffers sorely from top speed against the Ducati in particular. And yet, Quartararo only dropped five points out of the 50 at stake. The Sachsenring should suit the Yamaha much more at ease in the winding sections. “It's a very short circuit and the race here is one of the longest, because when you do 15 laps and there are 15 to go, it's super long, mentally. You always turn left, and it feels like you're running for two hours, but it's the same for everyone and this circuit is mentally difficult because it's super long. »

During the Barcelona test which followed the Catalan GP, ​​Quartararo had the opportunity to confirm the choice of the swingarm with which he won the day before. “In Barcelona, ​​I raced with the new swingarm that we tried at the Jerez test,” he recalls. And during the Barcelona test, we just compared which one was better. The new one is better and I will now use it until the end. »

A refresher in Austin… 

Since the return of the paddock to Europe, the Frenchman has never appeared beyond the first four places and he is, with A. Espargaro, the only one to have scored points in all the races of the season. It was in Austin that Quartararo regained control after a few more difficult races. “At the start of the year, I wasn’t really into it,” he admits. In Qatar and Argentina in particular, I would say I complained too much. In my head, there was always this top speed that was much slower than that of the others. But in Austin I decided to stop with that mentality because I'll have the same bike all year and just do the best I can with what I have. »

And added: “Basically, like last year, we can have very good races. I think the step I took in Austin allowed me to be more focused. Since Portimão, I have always finished in the Top 5. I think the first part of the season was excellent, apart from a few races which I am not very happy with. »