Fabio Quartararo on Jerez MotoGP sprint: ‘It was all or nothing… unfortunately nothing’

Fabio Quartararo says the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix sprint was “all or nothing” for him after qualifying on pole but “unfortunately it was nothing” after crashing in the lead battle.

The 2021 world champion put his Yamaha on pole on Saturday at Jerez for the first time since early in the 2022 campaign, well over 1100 days ago, with a new lap record.

He ended Marc Marquez’s unbroken pole run in 2025 and battled with the championship leader early in the 12-lap sprint.

Fabio Quartararo retaliated at Turn 1 when his lead was briefly taken from him, before coming under siege again at Turn 6 on the second tour.

As Marquez passed him, Quartararo crashed trying to hang on in the braking zone.

Despite the crash, Quartararo says simply leading the sprint was “super great mentally” given the struggles he has faced on the Yamaha in recent years

“For my confidence, it’s super great mentally,” he told MotoGP’s official website.

“It has been many years that I have not been leading a race, many years I didn’t make an overtake on Marc - even if it was at the start.

“But at the moment, we know we are good in one lap, still missing on the pace.

“But today I wanted to give it all and it was all or nothing.

“Unfortunately it was nothing, but I feel good mentally I think it’s great for all the team to have this boost of being back leading a race.

“I felt that Marc was going to overtake me, my bike started to shake and I could not stop the bike and I lost the front.

“Also the grip compared to this morning was a little bit more critical and we know how important that is for us. It’s something that we still have to work on.”

Quartararo has been fast all weekend on his factory M1, but admits his aim in qualifying was simply to get onto the second row rather than challenge for pole.

“Qualifying I didn’t expect to be that fast,” he added.

“The goal, to be honest, was to be on the second row, and we achieved it already on the first run.

“But I felt I had something more and being able to make this lap time is incredible. At the end it’s something that brings happiness to the team.”

Showing decent race pace during Friday’s Practice session, Quartararo is being looked at as a podium threat in Sunday’s grand prix - though he thinks fighting the Ducatis isn’t his goal.

“I mean, trying to be with them is the goal - not to fight with them,” the Frenchman said.

“I think that is difficult. But try to make a great start, try to be in a great position and see if we can be there.”