“I thought I was 11th”: Fabio Quartararo explains Assen MotoGP Sprint grid gaffe

Fabio Quartararo’s Assen MotoGP weekend reached a high-point in qualifying, higher than even the Frenchman himself realised.

Quartararo complained of a lack of grip, turning, and power with the Yamaha MotoGP bike on Friday at Assen, but on Saturday morning was able to advance from Q1 to Q2 and qualify ninth.

Pulling up to the grid at the end of the warm-up lap, though, he underestimated his qualifying and rolled into the wrong grid box.

“I made a mistake,” Fabio Quartararo explained afterwards.

“I thought I was 11th, I was behind Bastianini so I had to go again on my place [ninth].”

The start itself was the first competitive one since MotoGP introduced its front start device ban. This was an improvement in Quartararo’s opinion, and the Monster Energy Yamaha rider thinks it will be better again on Sunday for the full distance race.

“The start was good, but I am not able to really push in the beginning,” he said.

“But the start was quite great. Just need to get used to the front [having no start device]. 

“Was good. With full fuel tank we have less wheelie, so it's quite okay.”

Although he started well, Quartararo could not stay in the points, finishing 10th in the end.

“I mean, you know, when we have a bit more grip, I can really push to the limit,” he explained afterwards.

“To arrive to this limit is really complicated, but it's one of my strong points, but when you don't have the grip on the front and rear in the race, you arrive to the limit really quickly. 

“So, this is why also I am not able to go fast, and this is what happened really today. I mean, we are used to it, but I try to maximise the performance.”