Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo after finishing 12th at Motegi: ‘We were stupid’

Fabio Quartararo wasn’t able to go full throttle in the MotoGP race at Motegi – his Yamaha M1 was once again using too much fuel. Here’s how he got on with Michelin’s ‘special tyre’.

Stephan Moosbrugger

MotoGP

06.10.2026 - 16:39

This article is an automatically generated English version. The Original Article was published in German.

Fabio Quartararo durfte im Japan-GP nicht Vollgas geben
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Mentioned in this article

Fabio Quartararo

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Fabio Quartararo actually had a fairly standard weekend at Motegi, which is in line with the Yamaha M1’s current potential. As the Frenchman reckoned the Japanese bike would perform quite well over a single fast lap, he made it straight into Q2 on Friday. In Saturday’s qualifying session, he managed to secure 12th on the grid.

In the MotoGP Sprint, Quartararo also benefited from the crash involving Alex Márquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Pedro Acosta. He finished the twelve-lap race in 9th place. In Sunday’s Grand Prix, he finished twelfth and was once again the best Yamaha rider. However, he could have achieved more had it not been for an old problem holding him back.

“It was difficult because I had a problem with fuel consumption from lap 7 onwards,” lamented the 2021 MotoGP World Champion. “I could have ridden much faster, but unfortunately I had to be careful with the throttle. In corners 2 and 3 I was riding at 70 per cent throttle, and on the straights it was also 70 per cent. But I’m satisfied with my riding performance – that’s the most important thing.”

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Mentioned in this article

Fabio Quartararo

“I hadn’t expected to have this problem – especially at the start, when I was in Binder’s slipstream,” Quartararo continued. “I wasn’t that far off. And it was really still very, very early in the race. Even in his slipstream, I had to ease off the throttle, which meant I lost pace. Without the slipstream, it was even worse.”

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Yamaha M1: Less power with higher fuel consumption

Compared to the competition, the Yamaha engine not only has less power but also higher fuel consumption. The fact that the M1 guzzles a fair bit of fuel is nothing new; Quartararo has experienced this on several occasions – most recently at Misano, when he had to reduce power during Sunday’s main race. “We’re lacking in peak power and, unfortunately, we also have high fuel consumption,” confirmed Quartararo. “I can never be entirely sure whether I’ll be able to finish the race or not. There’s a green, a yellow and a red light, and for me the red one was flashing right from the start. Sometimes it was better; then the light went out. But in the end, it was the finishing position I’d expected. I think I could have finished the race ahead of Brad and Luca (Marini), but problems like that are part and parcel of racing.”

Quartararo is also convinced that the tyre with the harder carcass and soft rubber compound, which Michelin brought to Motegi, should have been used much earlier in the race weekend. “To be honest, we were a bit silly not to have considered this tyre sooner. I think it would have been better for qualifying, especially for us. The bike was bouncing on Saturday during qualifying coming out of some corners; with this carcass, the bike bounced much less. I think we could have made a bit more of the power. It was a bit odd, because nobody else used it and in the end it turned out to be the best tyre – so it was a bit crazy.”

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