Quartararo: “It certainly won’t be like it was with KTM in Austria!”

Although Fabio Quartararo secured 9th on the grid for his Yamaha at Spielberg, he didn’t make much of an impact in the Sprint and, above all, in Sunday’s Grand Prix. He could manage no better than 12th and 17th. His team-mates Alex Rins, Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu struggled even more.

This weekend sees the 16th round of the season take place at Motegi. What are Quartararo’s chances of having a better Grand Prix in Japan? “I’ve no idea, I’ll just try to do my best,” mused the Frenchman. “We’ll see what the grip is like on the track and whether it’ll be possible to put in a good qualifying run – I think that’s one of the areas where I feel okay on the bike. So my aim will be to secure direct entry into Q2 on Friday. Of course, it’s always better to start further up the grid. But we saw at the Red Bull Ring that it doesn’t matter whether we start from 9th place or further back – in a long race, we’re a long way off.”

The Twin Ring Motegi has been resurfaced, which could work in the Yamaha riders’ favour. “The most important thing is to see if the grip is good. That could help us,” confirmed Quartararo.

Quartararo: “It doesn’t matter whether it’s dry or wet”

Changeable conditions are forecast for the race weekend in Japan. Yamaha team-mate Jack Miller is hoping for rain, as that would improve his chances. What does Quartararo think? “No. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether it’s dry or wet,” he said, waving the idea away. “There are a lot of things we’re lacking that will also hold us back in wet conditions – grip, and so on. So it’ll be important to understand the tyres well and try to spot the difference compared to Austria, as it’s a different carcass as well. But I’ll try to work out just how hard we can push in the race.”

In Austria, KTM celebrated a long-awaited home victory with Pedro Acosta. Whilst Yamaha and Quartararo aren’t in a position to be fighting for wins, could it still be a satisfactory home Grand Prix in Japan? “I think we’re in a completely different situation, where we’re simply trying to find our base and do as well as we possibly can,” said the 27-year-old, tempering expectations. “I’m sure it won’t be like it was for KTM in Austria – not even in terms of satisfaction.”

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02.10.2026 - 01:55