No points and great frustration for Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha): “As expected”

Yamaha’s first MotoGP season with the V4 engine has been a disaster. They are by far last in the manufacturers’ championship, and the same applies to the teams’ championship. Even their star rider, Fabio Quartararo, is struggling to even finish in the points – last weekend at Spielberg, the 27-year-old failed to do so for the seventh time!

And yet the weekend at the Red Bull Ring had got off to a promising start with a tenth-place finish in Friday’s free practice. This secured his place in Q2, but he was unable to do better than 12th on the grid in qualifying. In the Sprint and the main race, the Frenchman finished twelfth and 17th. “Qualifying went well, and the Sprint was good too,” analysed the 2021 World Champion. “I knew it would be difficult to break into the top 10. So I think 12th place was the result we deserved. I feel good on the bike, but in the race it’s harder to set the same lap times when there are other riders in front of you.”

Willkommen zum Rennen am Red Bull Ring

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Pedro Acosta

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Fans

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Pecco Bagnaia und Marc Márquez

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Jorge Martin

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Brad Binder

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Marc Márquez

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Ai Ogura

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Fermin Aldeguer

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Marco Bezzecchi und Marc Márquez

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Pedro Acosta

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Johann Zarco

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Jorge Martin

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Enea Bastianini

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Pedro Acosta gewinnt das Rennen

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Pedro Acosta und Team

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Martin, Acosta, Bezzecchi

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Sieger Pedro Acosta

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Sieger Pedro Acosta

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Willkommen zum Rennen am Red Bull Ring

© Gold & Goose

Sunday’s main race went over 28 laps. With a lightning-fast start, Quartararo emerged from the first lap in eighth place and held his own remarkably well in the top 10 during the first half of the race. Then he’d used up all his energy and started to drop back. “What can I say about the races? It went just as I’d expected. I gave it my all and tried to stay on Pecco’s tail in the opening laps, even if it meant destroying my tyres. But I knew a place in the points would be difficult – I still gave it a go,” emphasised Fabio. “Our problem is that we’re struggling with every type of tyre. I’d expected more problems in qualifying, but in the sprint and the main race we had a lot of wheel spin. In fact, others struggled even more than we did this time.”

Quartararo is alluding to Ducati. Even the exceptional Marc Márquez couldn’t manage better than 5th place in the long race.

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Wouldn’t a less frenetic start from the Yamaha rider have been more effective in terms of stamina? Quartararo waves this off. “For me, it felt better to give it my all for the first ten laps and have some fun. I knew from the sprint that this would happen – the tyres were wrecked there too. I didn’t gain any insights from it either.”