Quartararo sees no light: first message to Honda

Fabio Quartararo wants to wrap up this MotoGP season with Yamaha as soon as possible. The rider from Nice is already focused on his next adventure with Honda, where he will take part in the first official test on the RC-V on December 1 in Valencia. Will the 2021 world champion’s rough patch finally end?

The split between the Iwata manufacturer and Quartararo is now definitive. The relationship had been creaking for months. Then Yamaha forbade its rider from testing Pirelli tires in the session scheduled at Spielberg on September 21, the day after the Austrian GP. At that point, ‘El Diablo’ lost his patience, publicly declaring that he no longer wanted to help Honda with the bike’s development. Toprak Razgatlioglu and Izan Guevara will take on the task of testing the 850cc Yamaha with Pirelli tires and providing useful data to the engineers.

The switch from an inline-four engine to a V4 has been painful for Fabio and the Japanese manufacturer. The move from Yamaha to HRC could prove just as complicated, as there will be a period of adaptation to the bike and the team. “Last year I didn’t change brand, but it’s a completely different bike. And I had to adapt,” explained Fabio Quartararo. “I had to change my riding style. And the same thing will happen next year. Obviously, I’ll also be running different tires. So it’s something we’ll have to learn.”

A new era of MotoGP is beginning, everything is a question mark. Riders will have to adapt not only to the 850cc prototypes, but also to Pirelli tires debuting after years on Michelin rubber. The road remains uphill for the Frenchman: “I don’t expect to jump on the bike and be immediately super fast. Valencia will obviously be a day where I have to understand my weak points and what I need to improve over the winter.”

But with a MotoGP test scheduled for early December, in rather low temperatures, it will be tough to fine-tune the bike. The focus will be on the riding position on the RC-V. In the 2027 preseason, riders will have two test days in Sepang (no longer three) and two in Buriram. After that, it will already be time to get serious. “I don’t expect to win right away,” Quartararo concluded, as reported by Motorsport-Total.com. “I’ll have to learn, adapt, and try to maximize the bike’s performance as quickly as possible to be fast.”

In the meantime, there’s still this long and difficult season with Yamaha to finish. The war of words between the parties shows no signs of easing, and an early contract termination cannot be ruled out...

-> Follow us on Instagram: @Corsedimoto