Fabio Quartararo: “Clearly impossible… goal now is to work on myself” after Japanese MotoGP
Fabio Quartararo said it was “clearly impossible” to stay with the frontrunners in the Japanese MotoGP, “goal now is to work on myself.”
Fabio Quartararo reluctantly accepted that eighth place was the maximum he could do in Sunday’s Japanese MotoGP.
After qualifying fifth and finishing sixth in the Sprint, the Monster Yamaha rider made an attacking start to pass eventual Honda podium finisher Joan Mir for an early fourth in the grand prix.
But he was riding on the limit and, ran wide after a mistake and was demoted all the way to ninth by the end of the following lap.
The Frenchman remained in that position until Pedro Acosta’s off-track drama with five laps to go.
“The maximum we could do,” Quartararo said of the result. “I made a really good start, [but] with the grip that we have, I made mistakes because I tried to push and be with them, but it's clearly impossible.
“But as a rider I think that I made all the race in my pace. My number one goal now is to work on myself, and try to improve as a rider, and I think that this race I was good, but we know how hard it is to be fast compared to all of them.”
With development swinging towards the new V4 machine, it seems unlikely that the current M1 will receive any further significant upgrades.
Nevertheless, Quartararo is hopeful of a stronger showing in Mandalika this weekend.
“I think that Indonesia can be a track where maybe we can make something good,” he said.
“Let's see how the tyre is different. I don't like to talk before, but I think that we can make a really good qualifying, and really good races there.
“Really good doesn't mean fight for much better, but I think if I had to choose one track it would be this one.”
While Yamaha has been without a rostrum since Quartararo at Jerez, Honda returned to the podium with third place for Joan Mir on Sunday.
“I think that it's great for the championship to see different manufacturers on the podium. And yeah, we just have to make some steps,” he said.
Quartararo, 12-seconds faster than his twelfth place at Motegi last season, finished 21-seconds behind Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia on Sunday.
The next best Yamaha rider was Pramac’s Miguel Oliveira, nine seconds behind Quartararo, in 14th place.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
