Fabio Quartararo "disconnects brain" to achieve special MotoGP feat

Fabio Quartararo explains secret of sensational one-lap pace

Fabio Quartararo
Fabio Quartararo

Fabio Quartararo has been crashing motorcycles for as long as he’s been riding them — literally.

The Frenchman, who first swung a leg over a bike at just four years old, estimates he’s hit the deck “at least 150 times” in his career.

“I don't know how many falls I've had throughout my life, because I've been riding a motorcycle since I was four years old, but you fall, you fall, you fall,” Quartararo told AS.

“I suppose about 150, but maybe more. As a child, the first time I rolled in water, I fell three times.

“And you go out again, and you go out. My father then had to take the motorcycle to be repaired because it was destroyed.”

Fabio Quartararo secret to qualifying pace

Over the years, Fabio Quartararo has grown so accustomed to crashes that it has shaped one of his greatest strengths: his fearlessness in qualifying.

The 2021 MotoGP world champion revealed that in time-attack mode, he has a unique ability to “disconnect” his brain.

The results speak for themselves: six pole positions as a rookie in 2019, and 14 more since then — including four so far this season.

“In the end you get used to it, although it is clear that some hurt more than others,” he said.

“Fear? When I'm here, and more so in qualifying, which is my strong point, my brain shuts down. I disconnected it.

“When you leave the box, which is a lap that doesn't count and in which you prepare the tyre, I notice that I'm nervous, very nervous, but when I get to the last corner before starting the fastest lap, everything goes away.

“It's like when your head or belly hurts and it goes away — well, this, but in half a second. And then you make your lap, and when you're done, you realize you're crazy, but a sane madman.”

That “sane madness” makes Quartararo a lethal one-lap specialist. But it's race pace where Quartararo and Yamaha demand change.

Despite his qualifying brilliance Quartararo always slips back into the pack during the grand prix.

The development of a V4 engine is an exciting background project but it won’t help Quartararo yet, heading into the Austrian MotoGP this weekend.

Yamaha also know that unless they address their bike’s big flaw, they could lose Quartararo whose reputation still carries huge value in the paddock.

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