Quartararo: Working window 'really small' for Yamaha, 'pushing' too much?

Quartararo comes into the Argentina MotoGP off the back of a podium finish in Mandalika, a track where some expected the Yamaha rider to struggle given the lack of performance shown in Qatar. 

But with the newly-resurfaced Indonesian track generating surprisingly high amounts of grip, Quartararo was able to take full advantage, whether it be wet or dry. 

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With the M1 notoriously known as a bike that requires high levels of grip to operate in its working window, Argentina is unlikely to provide that especially as the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit has been without any recent track action - last time MotoGP visited was 2019.  

How does this affect Quartararo? Well, the reigning world champion feels he could face a situation where he’s pushing harder than he normally would want, all in the effort to get little from it.

Quartararo said: “How to prepare… I don't’ know. To be honest it’s a situation I cannot do anything about. You can always try to improve the rear grip of the bike, but the grip from the track is something that’s so important. 

“The window for our bike to work is really small. When we have a lot of grip our bike is working perfectly. 

“You can do whatever you want, but as soon as you have low grip, it seems you are pushing much more but for less. 

“I have tried many, many things in Qatar, but we will need to have some luck. It depends on which corners and track you can adapt yourself quickly. But I cannot prepare for that.”

Quartararo also stated the lack of a pre-season test in Argentina, as was the case in Qatar is likely to make it tougher for the Japanese manufacturer, something that wasn’t an issue in Mandalika following February’s three-day test.

“Basically the last few years in Qatar we have had at least three days of testing,” added Quartararo. “And we had the race one or two weeks later so the track is always clean, let’s say. 

“This year there was no test, here we haven’t really been testing; the first time I was here in MotoGP was 2019. 

“I was not too bad when looking at the data this morning, but I was in a totally different way. It’s difficult to know what to expect, but for the moment I just want to give my best and see what result is possible. What is true is that I will give my maximum to be close to the front guys.” 

With 2021 providing the happiest moment of his career - becoming MotoGP world champion - Quartararo said one of the worst moments of his professional life came in Argentina during his Moto2 days (2018).

The French rider had one of his worst weekends as a grand prix rider after qualifying 28th, which was in fact so bad, the 22 year-old was unsure if he could reach the pinnacle of two-wheel racing.

But after winning his first race just a few rounds later (Catalunya) news came of his switch to MotoGP with Petronas Yamaha, and of course, the rest is history.

Recalling that moment during the press conference, Quartararo said: “To be honest it’s a dream. When I think about it, four years ago I was P28, super far, and you never know if you’re going to reach MotoGP or not. 

“From that moment to now I think that race was the worst of my career, one of the most difficult, but it’s also the one that really made me change. I would say that now it’s a great memory and something I can laugh about.”