German MotoGP: Marquez: Quartararo showing Yamaha's real potential
When Fabio Quartararo put his Pe🥃tronas Yamaha fastest during opening practice for the German MotoGP, it was the 13th time this season tha𝕴t the rookie has topped a MotoGP session.
And the Frenchman's recent strike-rate is even more impressive when you c💫onsider that he didn't lead a timesheet until round fou🐠r, in Jerez.
The 20-year-old's spectacular form has taken him to three𝔉 pole positions, back-to-back podiums, plus the race lead last Sunday at Assen.
Sꩲo what does reigning champ𒀰ion Marc Marquez think of it all?

When Fabio Quartararo put his Petronas Yamaha fastest dur👍ing openi✨ng practice for the German MotoGP, it was the 13th time this season that the rookie has topped a MotoGP session.
And the Frenchman's recent strike-rate is even more impressive when you consider that he didn't 💖lead a timesheet until round four, in Jerez.
The 20-year-old's spectacular form has taken him to three pole positions, back-🦋to-back podiums, plus the race lead last Sunday at Assen.
So w♏hat does reigning champion Marc Marquez think of it all?
"I think it's a great surprise for MotoGP, maybe not so great for his rival൲s!" Marquez said.
"It's also a surprise because he started out not - for example, when I entered MotoGP, I was there [up front] at the beginning. Maybe he struggled more in the pre-season, but then every time, every race, he is getting better and better and bette💝r.
"Now it looks like in different layouts, different tracks, he is able to be fast. And today if you loo⛎k at the pace me, Quartararo and Vinales are very close.
"So it looks like Quartararo is riding the Yamaha in a good way and is showing 🌊the real potential of the bike.🍷"
Nonetheless, it was factory star Maverick Vinales who finally claimed Yamaha's first win of the season,&nb﷽sp;at Assen, when Quartararo crossed the line in third.
However the Frenchman is now up to sixth in the world chamꦯpionship, just one place and five points behind the top Yamaha of Valentino Rossi.
While Quartararo's early grand prix career failed to live up to the label of 'the next Marc Marquez', the #93 feels he's handling the pressure i💦ncredibly well in MotoGP.
But Marquez ꦫalso warned the real pressure arrives after your rookie season, when you are expected to win races.
"I think more than this pressure [of bein൲g called the next Marc Marquez] is the pressure to be now actually the only French rider in front," Marquez said. "So Spanish riders have a small advantage in that, where the pressure of the country is♐ not only on one rider.
"I know Fabio, and he knows that Fabio is Fabio, Marc is Marc, Dani was Dani, Jorge is Jorge, Valentino is Valentino and everybody is different. But yeah, it looks like since he arrived in MotoGP he has grow♚n, but he is also managing the pressure well.
"But it's also true that in your first year in MotoGP, like me in 2013, you don't have a real pressure, because all the results are good. If you 🗹finish on the podium, it is an incredible result. If you finish in the top five, it's a ve🤪ry good result.
"The pressure a🎐rrives when you need to win and when everybody is pushing ꦦfor you to win."
20-year-old Quartararo is riding a lower-spec M1 with less rpm, older suspension and older aerodynamics compared to the machines of team-mate Franco Morbidelli, plus official riders Vinales and Valentino Ross💟i.
But, perhaps partly influenced by Quartararo's fo🌠rm, the 'factory' trio often revert to the ol🦹der aerodynamics while Vinales was also seen trying the #20's front suspension (standard metal fork tubes) at Assen, alongside the latest carbon-fibre version from Ohlins.
Quartararo eventually finished third fastest and w🧜as agai🌜n top Yamaha on Friday at the Sachsenring, behind only Marquez and Alex Rins. Vinales was fourth, Rossi tenth and Morbidelli twelfth.

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