Fabio Quartararo: Barcelona “one of my favourites, but...”
Fabio Quartararo rates Montmelo as one of his favourite tracks but warns Yamaha’s grip woes could again hold him back.
After heading into the summer break with a run of top-six MotoGP results – including a Sprint podium at Sachsenring - Fabio Quartararo has been left with a best of tenth from the past four races.
Incidents and penalties have played a role, while the stop-go layouts of the Red Bull Ring and Balaton Park preyed on the Yamaha’s weaknesses.
This weekend’s Barcelona MotoGP offers a more flowing challenge, with several fast corners better suited to the M1’s DNA.
Quartararo claimed victory for Yamaha at Barcelona in 2020 and 2022, but in recent years the track’s notoriously low grip has exposed the M1’s Achilles’ heel.
"We're in Montmelo – this is one of my favourite circuits. But we don't arrive here with as good a momentum as we had hoped for,” said Quartararo.
“I’m curious to see if our grip will be better this weekend. Either way, we will, as always, do our best for a top 10 on Friday, and then we go from there."
Yamaha arrives with data from private testing earlier in the year, but team director Massimo Meregalli admitted:
"Unfortunately, the grip at this track has never been very high. In the past years, we always had mixed results there: usually good in the morning, but we struggled more in the hotter afternoon sessions.
“We're trying to prepare in the best way possible. Despite this not being one of our strongest circuits, we will start the GP putting in a lot of effort and won’t take anything for granted in order to maximise our performance."
Quartararo, who will sample Yamaha’s new V4 prototype for the first time at the Misano test on September 15, currently sits tenth in the world championship with eight rounds remaining.
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