Fabio Quartararo hampered by the characteristics of the Portimao circuit

fabio quartararo He had a difficult first day in Portimao, where he constantly struggled with the quirks of his Yamaha on a technical track. The Frenchman finished the practice session in 13th place, two-tenths of a second away from direct qualification for Q2. This Saturday, he will therefore have to fight to get back on track and secure one of the two remaining places for the rest of the qualifying session.

When it comes to taking stock of this day, the Nice native is still far from admitting defeat. “My day? I’ve had better. I don’t think I was expecting a day like this at all, especially here, in terms of how I felt, in terms of results. But we’ll have to analyze, try to see what happened, what’s happening, and try to find a solution for tomorrow.” he noted during a press briefing in Portugal.

While he often manages to make the difference during braking phases on the M1, compared to other Yamaha riders, the 2021 world champion is struggling with the hilly nature of the host circuit for this Portuguese round.

“No, we can’t manage it because the corners are banked, and the bike, for example in turn 5, immediately wheelies at the rear, while the other bikes stay firmly planted on the ground. So we lose a lot of stability. Normally, I don’t mind when things get bumpy, but here, when we dive forward, we have no braking performance. We can’t make a difference in that phase.”

©Yamaha MotoGP

The Frenchman tested various parts on Friday, without success. He also does not blame the state of the track for his difficulties that day. "I don't think the bumps are a big deal. You can see that it's a little bumpy at the entrance to the last corner. But I don't think the bumps are a major problem. You can see that the lap times are already very fast for those at the front, so I don't think the track has deteriorated."

Trying to pinpoint what's holding him back when it comes to setting a timed lap, Fabio Quartararo concludes: “Generally, when you don’t have a good pace, you still manage to do a fast lap, you always manage to complete the qualifying lap. This is a bad sign. During the qualifying lap, I had a driver ahead of me on the second run; he was going about six or seven tenths faster than me. We’ll have to find some solutions.”

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