This Sunday, October 24, 2021, Fabio Quartararo answered questions from journalists from the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, at the end of the Gran Premio Nolan del Made in Italy and dell’Emilia-Romagna.
We went to listen (via teleconference software) to the words of the French driver, the first French to win the title in the premier class.
As usual, we report here the words of Fabio Quartararo without the slightest formatting.
Access the first part here
Fabio, when you won the Spanish championship twice, when you were 14 and 15 years old, you certainly already dreamed of winning the MotoGP title. Can you tell us how you made your way to this goal?
« When I won those first two titles, the next step was to be crowned in Moto3, but I didn’t even manage to get any victory in that category. Then came Moto2, where I tried to regain some confidence, which turned out to be a fiasco in the first year, but it was already much better in the second. »
« We had won two races by then, even though one of them was taken away from me on the green carpet. [Fabio Quartararo s’était imposé en Catalogne puis au Japon en 2018, mais ce dernier succès avait été annulé par la Direction de course en raison d’une pression de pneu illicite, ndlr]. At that time I did not expect to take the big leap in MotoGP at all, while in Moto2 despite my victories I was still far from the title. »
« When I took part in my first tests in Valencia at the end of 2018, I really wondered what I was doing on this bike. I just couldn’t drive, because there was too much power, whereas now it’s me complaining that I don’t have enough! Progress has been slow but still in the right direction. »
“When I took part in my first tests in Valencia at the end of 2018, I really wondered what I was doing on this bike”
« The first day we had finished three seconds off the best time, then two seconds, and the last day in Jerez we had finished eight tenths … Then in Sepang during the preseason tests it was difficult, but then in Qatar we achieved a huge step forward which brought us to second position. »
« From that moment I knew things were looking pretty good. The 2019 season went well, and now we are World Champions. I don’t know what to say more, I think I will only start to realize tonight. »
What role did your family play in your journey to the title of World Champion?
« I’m the kind of person who doesn’t particularly like having a lot of people around me, even though they’re family. But this time I wanted to have them by my side to feel all their support. »
« Today this must be the first time I really struggled to eat lunch. In this kind of day you accumulate a lot of adrenaline, and once the ordeal is over it all comes down and it’s a blow! But having them here is great. My brother came with his wife, and they are also going to make the trip to Portimão, where the atmosphere should be much quieter, especially with much less pressure. »
Today you are the best pilot in the world. But can we say that the Yamaha is the best motorcycle in MotoGP?
« I do not know, because I have not yet tried the Honda, the Ducati or other to be able to compare. If we look at the other riders and the various comments that are made here and there, it seems not, but for me everything is working well because we are World Champion. »
« Certainly we still have to work, because to be honest I have a great feeling with the bike, but I’m having difficulties in a lot of areas. It depends on the slopes, and for example here it was very difficult. If we have a little more power I think we can have the best bike on the grid. »
“If we have a little more power I think we can have the best bike on the grid”
In recent years you have radically changed your approach to racing. Can you tell us how it went?
« It was a rather natural process. This year I have never been really angry. But last year I remember that in Valencia the bike was not working at all and when I returned to the garage, I had a rather peremptory tone towards my engineers. One of them told me I was pissed off, but despite that I had to tell them what was wrong. »
« There I had succeeded in reasoning with myself and I realized that when you are angry you are not able to describe your problems well. For comparison I remember that this season in Assen we were half a second behind Maverick Viñales [qui faisait alors encore partie de l’équipe Yamaha], and there I had managed to keep my calm and in the end we had managed to impose ourselves. »
« When you see that when you manage to stay calm you get these kinds of results, then it completely deters you from getting upset afterwards. The lesson I take from it is to stay calm under all circumstances, even in bad times because that’s how we get by. »
« Knowing how to keep my cool allowed me to progress a lot, and that’s why this year I managed to stay calm, like yesterday when I finished 15th in qualifying. In the past I could very well have started screaming, but then I was honest with myself: I did not try more than that to be in Q2, and on top of that I was sanctioned, that’s all. There were no waves and in the end 24 hours later I am World Champion. »
MotoGP – Misano-2 – Race Results:
Ranking credit: MotoGP.com
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