Rear tire problem explains Fabio Quartararo's crash

Starting in third position, fabio quartararo had managed to get on the right track at the start of the Sprint on the Misano circuit. The Frenchman remained close to the top 3, and was pulling away from the VR46 riders behind him. Unfortunately, the 2021 world champion ended up on the ground at the start of the fifth lap of the race, unable to continue after losing the front end at turn 2. A fall that the Nice rider attributes to a very strange feeling at the rear of his machine.

“I had a strange feeling on the rear of the bike. It’s disappointing because I didn’t crash because I pushed too hard. From the last corner, I had a lot of vibrations on the left side of the tire. In turn 2, the bike jumped from the rear and that’s it. I lost the rear and then the front. I wanted to continue, but it was clear that it was going to be impossible, so I decided to stop there. We had vibrations that were multiplied by 10 for no reason. I think it’s a bigger problem than a balancing issue. We saw on the data that it was something really abnormal, but we can’t say much more.”

Despite the race ending much earlier than expected, the Yamaha rider was a satisfied man at the end of Saturday at Misano. After a particularly difficult Friday, the Iwata-based rider managed to turn things around in qualifying, and he believes he can continue in this good direction during Sunday's Grand Prix.

“In terms of pace, I didn't think I could do a 1:31.1. It was quite fast and I think we can be happy because yesterday was very complicated, and today we could have fought for the podium. It will depend a lot on the grip after the Moto2 race and the start of the race. I think our race pace is in the top five.”

Having stayed close to the top 3 in the first laps of the race, Quartararo managed to resist in what is generally a part of the race that suits him and his bike less: "I was a little worried about the first few laps. It's something that always worries me a little, especially because we struggle to warm up the soft tire. Today was not bad, but it's still frustrating to crash without pushing."

No changes from Assen

However, it's not all rosy, and the Frenchman continues to suffer from a chronic lack of top speed. As he has been insisting for several weeks, Yamaha has not made any changes since the Dutch Grand Prix in this regard, too focused on the development of the machine equipped with the V4 engine, which made its first race appearance this Saturday with Augusto Fernández at the helm.

"We haven't changed anything since Assen. We see that I'm still a bit defensive in the acceleration and high-speed areas. It's still a bit complicated, but I think it's always good to push as hard as possible and learn from the situation."

Interview by Luca Bartolomeo, in Misano

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