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The top 3 of the MotoGP World Championship finished in the Valencia classification in positions 11, 12 and 14. Fabio Quartararo cannot explain how his Yamaha teammate Franco Morbidelli got to pole.
“That was wrong,” was the sober judgment of world runner-up Fabio Quartararo after finishing eleventh on the Ricardo Tormo Circuit grid. He finished ahead of his world rivals Joan Mir and Alex Rins, who finished twelfth and fourteenth.
The Frenchman was mainly down as he lost 0.673 seconds to his Petronas Yamaha teammate Franco Morbidelli, who broke into pole position.
“We have changed more on the bike this weekend than in all of last season,” said Quartararo. “We made big changes and we believed they would work. I tried continuously to adapt to the bike, but I always had the same problems. We usually only put new tires on when things go wrong and everything is fine. But from now on it doesn’t go for any of us. Only with Franco, and he has a different bike ”.
As Quartararo and official riders Maverick Vinales (6th) and Valentino Rossi (16th) sit on a 2020 Yamaha, Morbidelli is on the road with last year’s bike, which he will also use in 2021.
“Qualifying is my greatest strength, but I am 7/10 seconds behind Franco,” complained Quartararo. Give me a new tire and I’ll go to the limit. But my limit is 7/10 seconds behind yours. Even with another new tire it would not have closed this gap, an improvement of two or three tenths of a second would probably have been possible. I can’t take turns in a river, everything is so stiff. This applies from the braking point to the apex. And we can’t do it, not even with the biggest changes. “
How does Yamaha help you solve your problems? “We have a Yamaha engineer who helps us a lot,” said the World Cup runner-up. “In the end, though, the team takes care of it. It’s always good when a Japanese engineer asks you a lot and you talk to him a lot. But I have no choice but to view the bad times now as an experience for years to come. “
Two races before the end of the season, Quartararo is 37 points behind World Championship leader Joan Mir (Suzuki), there are only 50 left. The Frenchman has to beat the Spanish in all circumstances if he wants to have a chance to keep open. the title fight to the final in Portimao.
“I’m not thinking about Joan,” said the current Yamaha number 1. “I’m thinking about how we can make the biggest improvements possible. The team is confident that they can change things. But I wouldn’t call that a strategy. I want to have fun and finish as early as possible. “
Results MotoGP Classification 2 Valencia (November 14):
1. Franco Morbidelli, Yamaha, 1: 30,191 min
2. Jack Miller, Ducati, +0.096 seconds
3. Takaaki Nakagami, Honda, +0 222
4. Johann Zarco, Ducati, +0.329
5. Pol Espargaró, KTM, +0.362
6. Maverick Vinales, Yamaha, +0 454
7. Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia, +0.466
8. Pecco Bagnaia, Ducati, +0480
9. Brad Binder, KTM, +0.546
10. Miguel Oliveira, KTM, +0590
11. Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha, 0.673
12. Joan Mir, Suzuki, +0,797
The remaining starting positions after ranking 1:
13. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, 1: 31,159 min
14. Alex Rins, Suzuki, 1: 31,594
15. Danilo Petrucci, Ducati, 1: 31.601
16. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 1: 31.604
17. Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati, 1: 31.606
18. Stefan Bradl, Honda, 1: 31.831
19. Tito Rabat, Ducati, 1: 32.063
20. Alex Marquez, Honda, 1: 32,205
21. Lorenzo Savadori, Aprilia, 1: 32,237
