Poleman of the day, Fabio Quartararo "doesn't really understand what happened" at the Australian GP

After an initial disappointment in the sprint race the day before, fabio quartararo leaves the Australian GP empty-handed with only five points, those of his 11th place in the race. "El Diablo" still hasn't found the recipe at Phillip Island, a circuit that definitely doesn't smile on him (9^e in 2024 as the best finishing position). His Yamaha, still suffering from grip problems, did not allow the Frenchman to fight at the front. Despite having taken pole position, Quartararo actually fell down the rankings from the start, victim of a cruel lack of pace on his M1.

« It's a bit annoying to always have the feeling that there's always something, pilot number 20 exasperates. We know that after Moto2 there are always a few difficulties, but difficulties like this, I've never had any.I had no traction at all, I couldn't stop. It's quite strange to see what happened, it's a bit tiring. »

While Quartararo struggled in the pack, his teammate Álex Rins – 12th on the grid – drove a solid race, finishing 7th. A small consolation prize for Yamaha, which had two machines in the first lap: " Alex Rins I had a great race, but I couldn't stop at all, I couldn't turn. I don't really understand what happened. " explains the 2021 world champion, perplexed.

"El Diablo" without response

After admitting his strategy error in the sprint, Quartararo hoped to make up for it in the main race. But once again, the M1 – exceptional over one lap – proved unpredictable in the Grand Prix. “At the rear, we never found the grip, and we found a very aggressive bike. I don't know why we had this kind of movement. Yesterday, we clearly made a mistake on the Mediums at the front, when I think we could have fought with Pedro Acosta and Jack Miller. But today, I can't understand what could have happened, Quarataro confides, visibly disconcerted. Normally it gets better with the Medium, you always get a better feeling at the end here, but here it was average at the beginning, and worse at the end. »

Before flying to the next round in Malaysia (October 24–26), Fabio Quartararo plans to take a break from the world of MotoGP to better return to Sepang. I definitely won't watch the races, I'm trying to disconnect and train, it still makes me think about something else. »

The Australian weekend once again highlighted the limitations of the Yamaha and the growing frustration of Fabio Quartararo, who is coming up against a machine incapable of keeping up with the best.

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