Fabio Quartararo: “A lot of years waiting for something big at Yamaha” - will it happen for MotoGP 2024?
This time around the Frenchman sits just ninth in the standings with one rostrum from the eight grand prix races♏.
Meanwhile, Yamaha has drop♈ped from second to fifth (and last) in the constructors’ stanꦫdings.
“It'🐠s difficult because one year ago I won here [at Sachsenring] and now I am not even in the top 10,” Quartararo said at the German Grand Prix, where he finished both the Sprint and Sunday race in 13th place.
“So it's tough to really enjoy, but I have to try t💞o stay calm, try to figure out what we can improve. But we are already almost halfway through the season,ꦓ and we don't find anything yet.”
The Frenchman then went on to claim a Sprint podium at Assen the following weekend, after Brad Binder’s penalt🍃y, before suffering a fast fall early in the Sunday race.
“A lot of years waiting for something big”
Like Honda, just seven points ahead of Yamaha in the constructors’ standings, there is already talk of Yamaha turning attention toꦫ making big changes for its 2024 machine - the lack of testing time and the limits on engine/aero development making in-season pܫrogress difficult.
“I mean, it's a lot of 🌱years that we are waiting for something big. A big change,” Quartararo, Yamaha’s 2021 world champion, responded.
“Soꦿ hopefully they can really provide us a really, really good bike for next year.
“But it's difficult also to be confident when you🦄 are fighting for these positions… They work hard but we could not find any improvement.
“So hopefully 🌠they found the correct thing to make a step𝐆 for the end of this year and for next year.”
Quartarar𝐆o’s situat🅠ion has obvious parallels with that of Marc Marquez at Honda.
The Spaniard recently revealed a meeting with the HRC president to spell out his concerns. Had Quartararo requested the same from Yamaha's Japanese maꦉn𓄧agement?
“I already had a meeting with the Yamaha president, so hopefully it's going to accelerate the process 🧜a little bit and [he] sees that we are really far from the top brands,” Quartaraꦡro revealed.
Yamaha Motor president Yoshihiro Hidaka attended this year’s Spanish ꦫMotoGP at Jerez.
“The president was there [at the track]. It was not planned but I asked [for a meeting] because my mentality is I'm aꦑ fighte🎉r, I want to win, I don't want to be in this position, because I think no one in the team is enjoying to be fighting for that.
“So I wantꦜ to motivate everyone, try to turn this bad energy into a good energy꧟ and make a step, especially a technical step," Quartararo said.
Quartararo is theꦡ only Yamaha rider to win MotoGP races since former team-mate Maverick Vinales took victory at the 2021 Qatar season-opener.
2024 is the final year of Quartararo’s current c🐈ontract, having raced an M1 since joining the premier class, with Petronas SRT, in 2019.
MotoGP is considering a tweak to i☂ts concessions rules in response to the current difficulties faced by Honda and Yamaha against the European 𓆏brands.
Peter has been in the paddock 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 inju൲ry issues.
