Fabio Quartararo: “I have nothing to prove” amid MotoGP drought

It’s been 76 grand prix and almost four years since former MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo last stood on the top step of the premier-class podium.

To put that into perspective, the Frenchman only had to wait 19 races before a first MotoGP victory, at the start of his second season with Petronas Yamaha SRT.

Quartararo was on course to break the victory drought at Silverstone last season, until his ride-height device failed.

The pain of that loss was clear when he broke down in tears when talking to the media afterwards, but the 27-year-old learned long ago the importance of moving on from such setbacks.

Arriving in grand prix tipped as the next Marc Marquez, Quartararo’s career quickly floundered as he rotated through four teams in four seasons, across the Moto3 and Moto2 classes.

"I was going through hell"

“From 15 to 18 years old, I was going through hell,” Quartararo told MotoGP.com ahead of this weekend’s home round at Le Mans.

“They already compared me with top names. I was not getting the results that I wanted. I was living without my family. Then I had some bad injuries.

“I went through some really tough moments. But then, step by step, I started to recover, and especially with Luca [Boscoscuro, Speed Up] even when the results were bad, we worked really well together and this gave me a really big boost mentally and helped me go to MotoGP.”

While success came quickly for Quartararo in MotoGP, it faded away just as swiftly.

After winning the 2021 MotoGP crown for the factory Yamaha team, the Japanese manufacturers were overwhelmed by the ‘new’ technology - including aerodynamics and ride height devices - being embraced by the European factories.

Quartararo hit a low of 13th in the 2024 world championship, but his personal reputation remained largely intact as Yamaha’s standout rider.

Alongside last year’s five poles and a podium return came Yamaha’s development of a new V4 machine.

But it’s a long road ahead, with the V4’s Spanish Grand Prix race time 20-seconds slower than Quartararo’s runner-up result on the Inline bike a year ago.

"I have nothing to prove"

“Talking about how I am living right now, when the result is not so great, you need to stay focused because it's really easy to lose your way, the motivation,” Quartararo said.

“At the end, it's something that you need to do for yourself.

"When you are winning, everything is easy…

“I have nothing to prove. If I'm here, it's just because I want to be back for myself.

“I know my speed, I know what I achieved, I know what I want to achieve in the short future.

“When you taste the feeling of winning, you don't want to lose it.”

"I love to train until I feel sick!"

That desire to add to his eleven MotoGP wins from 2020-2022 is set to see Quartararo leave for Honda at the end of this year, although the deal is still to be officially confirmed.

Until then, the Frenchman insists he will continue pushing to the limit on and off track.

“Something that I really like is pushing myself to the maximum. Into a zone that is not my comfort zone.

“For some people, it's maybe weird, but I love to train until I feel sick!

“So it is quite demanding, but it is my job to train and to feel 100% fit.”

The buzz of adrenaline also remains a big motivation.

“The speeds that we reach is something that nobody can expect. Not only the top speeds but going from 80 to 250km/h in a few seconds.

“People can think that we are crazy. Part of our brain is into that adrenaline vibe.

“I just feel like a crazy guy that is going onto a MotoGP bike and just pushing to the maximum, but I’m not a superhero!”