Fabio Quartararo confused by “frustrating” ever-changing Yamaha MotoGP feeling

Fabio Quartararo says he was “lost” at the start of the Czech MotoGP Sprint as he deals with an ever-changing feeling on the Yamaha.

Quartararo started the Czech weekend positively, finishing second in FP1, but was down in 14th in Practice on Friday afternoon.

By Saturday morning, things were similarly bad, the Frenchman qualifying down in 15th. In the Sprint, it was worse still, as Quartararo finished 13th of 15 finishers, ahead of only fellow Yamaha riders Jack Miller and Alex Rins, and 15 seconds off the win in a 10-lap race.

Quartararo explained that his feeling on the bike had got worse in the afternoon compared to qualifying in the morning, and that it is changing from session to session.

“It’s frustrating because this morning was not super-good but was not as bad as this afternoon,” Fabio Quartararo explained after the Sprint in Czechia.

“The feeling of my bike is changing every time whether it’s Sprint or race, and it looks like the first lap I’m completely lost, I have no idea why. 

“A bit strange to feel like that. 

“The feeling is not so bad, but actually the first laps I’m completely lost.”

The absence of performance in the opening laps is what cost him position to fellow Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu in the Sprint, and the difference in rear tyre compound (Quartararo chose the soft while Razgatlioglu picked the medium) meant the Monster Energy Yamaha rider was never able to recover against the MotoGP rookie.

“Especially first laps he [Razgatlioglu] was faster, then I could maintain a bit, but with the soft rear [tyre] I overheated quite a lot,” Quartararo said.

“We use a lot the rear to make the bike turn and by the end my rear was cooked. 

“It’s super-strange, I don’t understand why I’m super-slow on the races. It’s frustrating.”

Quartararo added that this inconsistency between sessions is not something specific to the V4 Yamaha.

“Last year was a bit of the same,” he said, “Especially when the grip dropped we struggled more. 

“But today was really strange. I know my pace was a bit faster this one, but today I was super-slow this afternoon.”