MotoGP Argentinian GP
Quartararo: Getting grip from 2022 Yamaha down to "luck"
Reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo says the operating window of the 2022 Yamaha MotoGP bike is “really small” and feels finding grip on the bike “is a bit of luck”.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Apr 2, 2022, 1:14 PM
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Quartararo has endured an inconsistent start to his title defence this season, with the Yamaha rider struggling to ninth in the opening round in Qatar before putting on his best-ever wet weather display in Indonesia to take second.
The Frenchman has made no secret of his unhappiness at the lack of progress Yamaha has made in improving the top speed of the YZR-M1 this year, while noting in Qatar that he was having a lot of rear grip problems.
This weekend’s Argentina Grand Prix will take place at a Termas de Rio Hondo circuit that has been used little since MotoGP’s last visit in 2019.
With the weekend schedule losing Friday’s running due to freight delays, this could complicate bike set-up for the Yamaha rider – who admits “you can’t do many things” to prepare his bike for a low-grip scenario if a track is very dirty.
“How to prepare, I don’t know,” he said on Thursday. “To be honest, it’s a situation where you can’t do many things.
“You cannot always try to improve the rear grip of the bike, but basically the grip from the track is something that is so important and our window for our bike to work is really small.
“And when we have a lot of grip, our bike is working perfectly; you feel like you can do whatever you want. But, as soon as you have low grip it looks like you are pushing much more for less.
“So, I tried in Qatar many, many things, but you need to have a little bit of luck and it depends on which corner and track you can adapt yourself quickly. But I cannot prepare for that.”
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Quartararo is so far the only Yamaha rider to have scored a podium in 2022 or even have come close to doing so.
RNF Racing rider Andrea Dovizioso has repeatedly talked of how Quartararo is doing exceptional things to get the Yamaha to work in his way of riding.
Quartararo’s teammate Franco Morbidelli says he is still taking time to adapt himself to the factory M1 because he is not able to maximise his package with his crew in the same way the Frenchman is.
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“I see how planted Fabio is with the bike and how precise the modifications he does are with his crew on the bike,” Morbidelli explained.
“So, seeing the level he is able to have and seeing the kind of modifications he does on the bike, I understand he had a kind of knowledge of the bike and with the crew that I don’t have.
“But I’m planning to have it as soon as possible.”
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