Fabio Quartararo after MotoGP Grand Prix of Americas podium: “Struggling, many problems, difficult to accept”
The Yamaha rider finished on the podium for the first time this season in Texas but his woes were underlined when 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Luca Marini shot past him into P2.
Quartararo, the 2021 champion, could not compete with the Ducati’s spee🐟d and, after three rounds, s൩its 30 points behind leader Marco Bezzecchi.
“It is diff𒈔icult to accept,” Quartararo said about being passed by Mooney VR46 rider Marini.
“Most of all, it is difficult to be calm on the straights when you see a rocketsh🌄ip coming to the side.
“But I was calm. This is a good thing.”
Perhaps the true extent of Quartararo’s worries this season i𝓰s that not only does his Yamaha lag behind the Ducatis, as expected, but it is also trailing the H𝄹ondas and Aprilias.
After finishing third at COTA he described his season: “Real👍ly complicated. I’m happy for the team, it will bring a lot of motivation and self-confidence for myself.
“Hopefully we make a step forwards soon.
“It was a long, tough race. We know our problem🥂s - power, accelerat🃏ion, wheelies. We have many problems.
“We know at this track, in Turns 11, 1 and 20, there are a lot of wheelies. We ne♉ed to make a step in this area.”
There is hope that his Yamaha will find greater performance back♑ on European soil, at the next round in Jerez from April 28 then at Quartararo’s home grand prix in Le Mans.
After a timely return to the podium, Quartararo ༒will at least be fuelled with optimism heading into the next stage of the season.
“It is a big boost of confidenc🔯e for myself, the team, the people around us.
“Positives? We are struggling but, to h💖ave at least a 🍰bit of happiness in the team, will be great.”
What are Quartararo’s concerns with his M1?
“It has to change,” he lamented after crashing 📖out from sixt♐h in Saturday’s sprint race, when his dreadful top speed left him reliant on extreme braking.
“I don't know how, but for four years 🍒I haven’t felt a big improvement on the bike.
“Now I start to have quite a🎉 lot of experience on the bike, but I don'🅷t see massive improvement.
“The thing we have to change is much bigger tಌhan having an exhaust or one small thing on the bike.
“For me it must be a big change and also making a big change can be difficult. But if we can guarantee an improvement, I thiౠnk we have to do it.”
Yamaha’s main focus this winter was delivering𝄹 an increase in power that Quartararo had begged for, as his championship slipped away on the final day of 2022.
His M1 uses an🔯 Inline4, rather than a V4, engine configuration, a key point 🌜of difference from the other bikes on the grid.
“I never rode a V4🌺,” he said. “I always ride the Yamaha and I don't want to ask for something that I've never tried. But at the ♔end, all the others are using this so...”
James wa🌞s a🐼 sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
