Fabio Quartararo has arrived in Spain with the hope that he can fight for victory between the sprint and the sprint, between Saturday and Sunday. Instead, at the end of Friday’s free practice, El Diablo finished 15th, just below leader Aleix Espargaró. The Frenchman comes to the microphones tired and frustrated, unable to pinpoint the main problem, and most disturbingly, he struggles to see a solution on the horizon.
theA podium in the United States made circuit-goers think Fabio Quartararo’s season could slowly pick up. Indeed, a good weekend at Diablo between the straights and wide avenue foreshadowed to Austin that the Frenchman, once back in old Europe—with tracks of more traditional characteristics—would have had an easier life. to Above all, Jerez was much expected of Fabio Quartararo and of Yamaha, for at least three reasons. Because it is in the beautiful folds of Andalusia that El Diablo, in 2020, gets his first (double) MotoGP victory, because last year he was the only one on earth who could keep up with the grumpy Pico Bagnaia and because – it must be said – Jerez de la Frontera has historically been the land of conquest for Yamaha. A track that, as the good ones say, should be interpreted with a “flow” (a fluid zigzag rhythm) that fits particularly well with the characteristics of the M1. A track that is, by all accounts, the real test of what we’ll see in MotoGP from now on.
DrHowever, it is right to worry if Fabio Quartaro at the Jerez mixed circuit without excessively sudden acceleration and an exaggeratedly long strait finishes fifteenth, more than eight-tenths behind Aleix Espargaro, first in his class on Friday in Andalusia. Only twenty-four hours ago French announced, on Sky Guido Meda’s microphone: “I want to be careful but I think here in Spain there is a chance for us to win. , never dropped below 1’37” 500, neither with Fabio Quartararo nor with Franco Morbidelli. Ducati, KTM, Aprilia and even Honda, with at least one of their riders, repeatedly rode on the “low 37” foot, until They intermittently caress “36 height”. The M1, all of a sudden, seems to be the bike with the least potential around Seville. The discovery comes not only from the numbers, but is reinforced by the human eye, which is impossible to ignore how the Yamaha, in the hands of the Diablo, is tense and angry. Mattia Pasini was the first to notice this: “I was on the side of the track and for Yamaha, a bike that should be nice and stable in fast riding, the track suddenly seems to be narrower. Quartararo and Morbidelli use the barriers a lot, trying to exploit every inch at their disposal.” As if Yamaha suddenly lost its strong point, handling, without closing the gap in acceleration and top speed on the other side.
FApio Quartaro nodded and agreed with Pasini. The Frenchman, who arrived in front of the microphones and cameras, wanted to say: “It’s a disaster.” He backs away, but his words, adding to his forlorn and disappointed expression, are nonetheless very eloquent: “We made a mistake not doing a time attack this morning (Quartaro was the only one, along with Zarco, who didn’t mount the time attack soft frame in PL1, Mr. Dr) when the grip was not bad, while in the afternoon the conditions were much worse. It seems like every time, year after year, weekend after weekend, we have a really hard time finding a bike that fits. I remember in 2019, 2020 and 2021 the last two corners on the right side of sector four were our strong points, but now the bike is way too aggressive, doesn’t spin and in fact ends up on the curb on the exit. We also struggle a lot under braking, right on the edge of the bike it’s not bad, but we lack a lot of stability and go slow. We try to replicate the feeling of 2019 but we can’t, I don’t know what the main problem is. Of something, in garage number 20 they will have to start over if they want to avoid sinking. Tomorrow morning Fabio Quartaro will face Q1 with little hope that He manages to enter the second quarter and fight for the first twelve boxes from the starting grid. upper class In Jerez, the winner has started from the front row 33 times. Utopia, for now, for Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha, who were looking for redemption in Andalusia.
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