Can Fabio Quartararo win Dutch MotoGP from pole? “We are not ready yet”

After crashing out of Saturday’s Sprint at Assen, Fabio Quartararo says Yamaha is “not ready” to win on Sunday, despite the Frenchman having qualified on pole position.

Quartararo’s qualifying performance on Saturday morning secured him his fourth pole of the 2025 MotoGP season so far, but he has still only stood on a podium once this year, in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Even before he crashed out of the Sprint, Quartararo had dropped to fourth place behind Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez, and Marco Bezzecchi, and the French rider is sure that Sunday’s race is one that Yamaha is prepared to win, feeling instead that “many things need to happen” for him to be in position to end his win drought that stretches back to Germany 2022.

“There are many things that need to happen, but I think we are not ready [to win] yet,” Fabio Quartararo told MotoGP.com post-Sprint on Saturday when asked if he could win his first race of the season on Sunday in the Netherlands.

“Of course, some tricky races like Silverstone we were able to be there, but hopefully we can be in some tricky situation where for one time they struggle like in Silverstone and we feel good.

“But I push to the maximum always.”

Quartararo’s commitment in riding this year has resulted in an increased frequency of crashes, including in Saturday’s Sprint. The Monster Energy Yamaha rider says this is down to his desire to win.

“I think it’s the first season where I’m crashing [this often], but it’s because I want to win,” he said.

“I want to be there, and unfortunately this is what happens when you are on the limit every single corner.”