Key weakness of Yamaha pinpointed as Fabio Quartararo rediscovers “fire”

Fabio Quartararo has been advised where his Yamaha’s obvious fault is.

The 2021 MotoGP champion enjoyed a fantastic outing last time out in Qatar, particularly on the Saturday.

He was momentarily in pole position but ultimately had to settle for a front row start, a hugely encouraging result for the Yamaha rider whose bike has struggled since his title win.

Quartararo finished P5 in the sprint and P7 in the grand prix to leave Qatar with renewed hope for Yamaha’s project.

“It is even more than expected,” Quartararo said after qualifying in Qatar.

“The one-lap pace was good. We can be quite happy with what we have done.”

But Yamaha still have a long way to go before they are regularly mixing it with the dominant Ducatis.

The Japanese manufacturer has often struggled with their qualifying pace, it was noted.

“They have struggled full-stop, even in races,” Sylvain Guintoli analysed for TNT Sports.

“It has been hard. But this year we have seen glimpses. We saw Quartararo super-fast in winter testing in Sepang.

“We saw Jack Miller take risks, and make it pay off straight away, in Buriram then in Austin with a top five.

“It looks like it’s almost there…

“What they need to find, for me, is the consistency in efficiency in corner exit.

“This is where the Ducati excels, and where the Yamaha is not quite there yet.

“Fabio says that when the grip in the rear drops, they don’t have that efficiency anymore and they lose performance.

“But the bike turns well, looks stable, looks like it gives a lot of feedback to the riders.”

Fabio Quartararo rediscovers 'fire' at Yamaha

Michael Laverty added: “It helps the Yamaha when the grip is increased.

“They can turn tighter, get traction, accelerate off the turn to match Ducati.

“It works so well, when it works. But when it drops off, Fabio is all at sea.”

Quartararo retained faith in Yamaha’s ability to restore their project to the summit of MotoGP when he penned a new contract last year.

Now reportedly the highest-paid rider in MotoGP, Quartararo is hoping that Yamaha can take major strides this year.

The addition of the Pramac satellite team has given them double the bikes, riders and data. Miller has impressed at Pramac riding a Yamaha, finishing fifth at the Americas MotoGP.

Yamaha have also started testing their V4 engine in a huge sign of things to come.

Laverty said about Quartararo: “When he was putting it on the front row a few years ago, he was going for the victory.

“He has had to recalibrate, re-set. It’s promising to see because he was a bullhound when he initially came into MotoGP on the Petronas Yamaha.

“It’s good to see that fire. He can point to Jack Miller’s performance to elevate Fabio’s performances.”