Valencia MotoGP: Luca Marini: Fabio Quartararo has ‘beautiful pace’ but ‘impossible to win’

Quartararo has qualified fourth on the grid aꦇnd, in the wordღs of Marini, has a ‘beautiful pace’.
But the Italian believes the Frenchman’sꦇ Yamaha will once again struggle to unleash its full potential when battling with other bikes in a race situation.
“About Fabio, for me it is impossible for him to win the race tomorrow. Not because he ൩doesn’t have the pace. He has beautiful, amazing pace,” Marini said.
“But, as in 🌞every event of this year, if you look at his pace it is impressive, but ༒then in races he is slower because he’s with other riders.
“He struggl🅷es a little bit when someone overtakes him or someone is in front of him, because he cannot do his lines - looks like, I have never spoke with him, but from the TV it l♚ooks like this.
𒁃“So I think tomorrow it will be impossible for him.”
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Even if Quartararo was able to win, Marini’s VR46 Academy ‘team-mate’ Francesco Bagnaia only requires only a🍒 14th place finish to be crowned 20🍨22 world champion.
“Much more 💮easy is the pace Pecco [needs] to win the championship, because he just has to stay [on] until the eꦆnd,” Marini said.
Quartararo's former title rival Aleix Espargaro, now battling Enea Bastianini for third in the standings, disagreed as far as winni✃ng the race, but also believes the Frenchman's title situation remains bleak:
"Fabio is fast🍎er than what I expected before the weekend started. Sincerely, I think he can win the ꦫrace. I mean he has the pace, but the other two things to happen [to win the title] are more difficult.
"The first one is a zero for Pecco is difficult and the second thing is that, even if Pecco has a zero, for me it's impossible that other Ducati riders allow Fabio to win. N🧜o way."
Meanwhile, Marini tips the likes of front row starters Jorge Martin (pole) and Jack Miller (third) as among the🎉 favourites.
“I think Jack is very🃏 fast and very strong at this track, in past years he was always there fighting for the victory but also Martin made a good step today,” said Marini.
“This is also a race where tyre manag🍷em꧂ent is important. We will see if there is a big group. For sure the guys that start in front and finish the first laps in the first positions are the guys for the win.”

Marini, quickest on Frida💎y, slipped down the order to eleveꦓnth in qualifying.
“After this morning [14th] my goal for qualifying was a bit less because I did not feel the extra grip from the soft tyre 𝓀like I did yesterday,𝔍” he said.
“It looks like with the colder temperature I cannot use well the rear tyre to make a good lap because I don’t have the extra grip. The bike does not turn and 🦋when I am on edge, I touch the gas and I slide too soon.
“I am braking really hard and strong entering all the corners, but in the middle𒊎 of the corner and the exit I am maybe the worst Ducati.
“We need to understand whဣy we struggle like this with the soft [rear tyre] but also we need to focus on the race because the soft will not be in our plan. With the medium tyre I am much more comfortable but starting from P11 is another kind of race.”
Team-mate Marco Bezzecchi will start from 18th after a fiery 🌱accide💮nt in FP3.

Peter has🍬 been in the pa🐲ddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.