A week after securing a new podium finish, Fabio Quartararo returned to a circuit he loves at Phillip Island. However, the Nice native had never finished a race there…
In a weekend disrupted by weather conditions, the main race took place on Saturday instead of the usual Sunday. This decision was made as the organizers anticipated potentially troublesome weather conditions on Sunday. This proved to be a wise choice since the sprint race rescheduled for Sunday was eventually canceled.
This resulted in a more classic Grand Prix weekend with qualifying and a single race in Australia. There wasn’t much upheaval for riders like Fabio Quartararo, who had made qualifying his main goal. On a fast circuit, the Yamaha wasn’t the favorite. Unfortunately, this was confirmed by the timing. Only 17th on the grid, nearly 1.8 seconds behind the pole sitter, despite a personal improvement of half a second compared to the previous year on this same track, the Nice native was very disappointed. “I had no chance of reaching Q2. We are struggling in corners, more than last year. I’m a second behind the leader and my teammate is also having difficulties. And we don’t understand why.”
It was thus difficult to hope for a repeat performance like in Indonesia or India a few weeks ago.
A catastrophic start and an encouraging comeback
Having made good starts in recent races, Fabio Quartararo faltered this time when the lights went out. The Yamaha rider found himself in last place before overtaking Takaaki Nakagami before the end of the first lap. And that was perhaps the only positive point of the weekend. The Nice rider used to say that his bike didn’t allow him to overtake in races. He managed to prove otherwise. By moving from 21st to 14th place by the finish, the Yamaha showed some speed. “My pace was quite good,” he stated to Canal+ at the end. “Aside from the mistake I made on the first lap, I struggled a lot in the first few laps compared to the others. Then, my pace wasn’t bad but we are way too slow and can’t fight with the others.” A complicated weekend despite saving a few points.
But the real satisfaction for the Nice native this weekend was elsewhere, with Johann Zarco’s victory on the final lap. His first in the premier class. “I’m really happy for him. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I went to congratulate him, even though I was frustrated to finish so far behind. If anyone deserves it, it’s him.”
