Quartararo: Mugello win "key" to 2021 MotoGP title tilt
Newly-crowned MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo says his win at Mugello was "the key point" to his 2021 title tilt because of the confidence it gave him.


Yamaha rider Quartararo came from a career-worst 15th on the grid to win the 2021 title in Sunday's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after championship rival and long-time race leader Francesco Bagnaia crashed out with four laps remaining.
Although Quartararo was ultimately mugged for the podium by Avintia rookie Enea Bastianini on the last lap, Bagnaia not finishing ensured Quartararo became France's first MotoGP world champion.
Quartararo has been ultra-consistent in 2021, winning on five occasions and taking five other podiums, while finishing every race in the points.
But he says the day he won at Mugello, a circuit which exposed Yamaha's straightline deficit, proved to be the key moment in his path to the 2021 title.
"For me the key point was Mugello when we won, because Bagnaia was super strong," Quartararo noted. "He made a mistake on the second lap.
"And I had a fight with Johann [Zarco], and that was the key point I think where I took a lot of confidence back."

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Quartararo's 2021 season is in stark contrast to his 2020 campaign, where a wretched final six races saw him plummet from leading the championship to ultimately finishing eighth in the standings.
He has talked at length this year about the work he did with a sports psychologist over the winter in order to remain calm in difficult moments in 2021, and he once again explained how this helped him to championship success this season.
"I think this year I never really got angry," he added.
"Last year I remember in Valencia the bike was not working at all, and I arrived to the box and I was not shouting, but telling my crew chief 'No, it's not turning, I can't brake, I can't accelerate'.
"But then my crew chief said, 'OK, now you are angry, but you need to tell me what is going on because if we need to improve something we can improve the braking, the turning, the exit'.
"So, I say 'OK, this is true', so I needed to think. And when you are angry you can't describe what are your problems.
"This year, every time I had a problem… I remember really well at Assen in FP2, when Maverick [Vinales] was half a second faster than us, I stayed so calm and at the end we won the race.
"And when you see being calm brings you to that kind of result, you want to think like that. Even if you are in a bad moment, stay calm and you will make a step.
"Being calm, I think, was something that made me grow a lot and that's why this year I stayed calm.
"Of course, there were some moments where I was super-angry, like yesterday when I finished P15. I could have shouted, screamed, whatever. I didn't want to take the risk enough in Q2, so P15, that's where I am."

Marquez says wet Misano practices crucial to his latest MotoGP win
Bagnaia’s Misano MotoGP race was “win or gravel”

Latest news
KTM adds Folger as test rider for 2023 MotoGP season
KTM has expanded its roster of test riders by signing one-time podium finisher Jonas Folger for the 2023 MotoGP season.
How Tyrrell became a racing Rubik’s cube as it faded out of F1
Formula 1’s transformation into a global sport meant the gradual extinction for a small team determined to stay true to its low-budget roots. But Tyrrell would eventually be reborn as a world-beating outfit again, explains MAURICE HAMILTON, albeit in different colours…
Ford: F1 return wasn’t possible without changes to engine rules
Ford would not have returned to Formula 1 without the major changes to the engine regulations for 2026, according to its motorsport boss.
Mercedes takes BoP hit after rapid Bathurst qualifying
Mercedes teams have been dealt a hefty Balance of Performance blow ahead of tomorrow's Bathurst 12 Hour following Maro Engel's lap record-breaking effort in the Top 10 Shootout.
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
Following Suzuki's decision to quit MotoGP, both of its former riders have landed at Honda for 2023. But perhaps its biggest signing from the now-defunct team could instead be a highly-rated technical manager. Is Ken Kawauchi the right man at the right time to steer HRC back to glory?
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Suzuki's unexpected departure left more than 40 professionals virtually jobless for the 2023 MotoGP season. But that human drama has been successfully corrected by the paddock itself, with most former Suzuki crew-members absorbed into other operations
How one MotoGP team went from title fights to losing it all in four years
The Petronas Sepang Racing Team came into MotoGP with a bang in 2019 as regular front-runners, with wonder rookie Fabio Quartararo mounting a title challenge in 2020. But it all went wrong for the Razlan Razali-helmed squad as the team changed hands and tumbled down the order - and RNF Racing plans to right this in 2023
Is MotoGP's comeback king ready to reclaim his throne?
Marc Marquez’s sixth premier MotoGP title seems a long time ago given the injury woes he has faced in the three years since. At the end of a fraught 2022, in which he had a fourth major operation on his right arm, the Spaniard speaks exclusively to Autosport
How MotoGP’s underachiever is working to reverse its fortunes in 2023
As European manufacturers emerged as the strongest force in 2022 in a changing of the guard for MotoGP, one powerhouse couldn’t quite match the feats of Ducati and Aprilia. Its motorsport chief tells Autosport why this is and what it is doing to become a consistent frontrunner in the class of kings
How MotoGP riders are preparing for the physical stress of sprint races
With the expansion of the calendar to 21 grands prix and the introduction of sprint races, the 2023 MotoGP season will take the riders to almost 1,300 kilometres of competition more than this year, a factor that forces adjustments in their physical preparations.
The Ducati rider who is much more than just the brother of a MotoGP legend
Surname pressure is something many have had to deal with in their motorsport careers. And while Luca Marini doesn’t have that, his familial relation and the team he rides for in MotoGP have cast a brighter spotlight on his progress. But, as he has shown in 2022 – and as he reveals to Autosport – Marini is so much more than just the brother of a legend
Ranking the top 10 riders of MotoGP 2022
The 2022 MotoGP season was another hotly contested championship, with Francesco Bagnaia emerging as the title winner after the campaign went to the wire. Autosport picks out the 10 best performers of the season
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.