'All in' slicks in the rain gamble backfires for Quartararo, Morbidelli

Just 15th and 16th in the dry Japanese MotoGP Sprint, Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli felt they had little to lose by staying out on slicks as the rain began pounding down at Motegi on Sunday.

Peter McLaren

02 Oct 2023

Fabio Quartararo, MotoGP race, Japanese MotoGP, 1 October

The pair were among only five riders not to pit for their wet bike at the end of the opening lap.

It initially put Quartararo second to Ducati test rider Michele Pirro but the worsening conditions prompted the Frenchman to pull in on lap 2.

“I gave it a try to stay out one lap longer,” Quartararo said. “You know, it was raining, but it wasn‘t that wet at the time.

"It turned out to be the wrong strategy, but I was fighting for P12 or P13, or wherever I was riding at the time, so I had to give it a try.”

Morbidelli stuck to his guns, despite dropping to last place by lap 5, in the fading hope that the rain would pass. It didn’t and the Italian was forced to pit soon after.

“I tried to go for a different strategy and tried to stay out with slicks,” Morbidelli said. “It was raining, but I hoped that it would stop. It didn‘t, but it was an all-in strategy that ultimately didn‘t pay off.

“After, on the wets, my speed was good, but I was too far behind.”

Quartararo was classified 10th and Morbidelli 17th when the race was stopped and final result taken, after a restart was abandoned.