Quartararo “not happy” with Yamaha bike after first MotoGP test
Reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo says he is “not happy compared to what I expected” with his Yamaha MotoGP bike after the first 2022 pre-season test in Malaysia.
The Frenchman was seventh-fastest overall at the end of the two-day test at the Sepang International Circuit, with Quartararo just under two tenths off the pace set by Gresini’s Enea Bastianini on Sunday.
Quartararo conceded on Saturday that Yamaha hadn’t taken much of a step forward with its bike from November’s Jerez test and had resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t be getting the power upgrade he needed to reduce the marque’s top speed deficit.
And while admitting again on Sunday that he was “not happy”, he also says he has to focus on the bike’s strong points – such as its front end – in order to not become “depressed” constantly by the situation.
“I’m not happy compared to what I expected,” he said.
“But about my feeling, my riding, what I see during this test about myself I was happy. So, [it was] up and down.
“At the end, like I’ve said before, I think it’s important not to focus and say too much in my mind like ‘ah, I’m disappointed, I expected much better’, so, I [don’t] feel, like lazy - depressed.
“I don’t care, I have what I have, and what I love is to put myself on the red zone.
“And if the lap time is 1m58.3s, it’s 1m58.3s; if it’s 1m58.0s, it’s 1m58.0s.
“What I like is to say I give my 100%, and I was on the limit. That’s the only thing I really want and I think we are doing it really well.”
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Quartararo went on to say that he feels the rest of the grid has taken two steps forward while Yamaha has only “maybe half” improved its package from 2021.
He also rebuffed suggestions that Yamaha wasn’t actively looking for more horsepower, but that it simply cannot find it – and feels there is no time to improve the situation now, as he will not race an untested engine upgrade before the development freeze comes into effect from the Qatar Grand Prix.
“No, because the area where we really need to improve there is nothing really planned for it,” he said when asked by Autosport if there was time to fix Yamaha’s biggest weakness.
“So, this is not the problem but the thing that we can really know, and even if we have it we will not have time to test because it will not arrive for Mandalika, I will not go out in Qatar with something I don’t try and I’m not sure about.
“So, the bike we have today will be the one that we use in Qatar – or with small modifications.”
He added: “I think they are looking for it, but maybe the zone of Yamaha has no more horses!
“But for sure they are looking to improve, I hope, but in the end I think everybody plays a lot on the limit and some manufacturers find a little bit more, and unfortunately we don’t.
“So, I don’t think it’s an area where Yamaha doesn’t work, I think they can’t find it.”
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