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The top 3 of the MotoGP World Championship were stuck in Valencia in qualifying in eleventh, twelfth and fourteenth positions. Fabio Quartararo cannot explain how his Yamaha teammate Franco Morbidelli got on pole.
“It was bad”, was the sober opinion of the second classified in the World Cup Fabio Quartararo after finishing eleventh on the Ricardo Tormo circuit grid. He finished ahead of his World Cup opponents Joan Mir and Alex Rins, who finished 12th and 14th.
The Frenchman remained mostly down as he lost 0.673 seconds to his Petronas Yamaha teammate Franco Morbidelli, who had stormed pole position.
“We changed more on the bike this weekend than last season,” said Quartararo. “We made big changes and we believed they would work. I have constantly tried to adapt to the bike, but have always had the same problems. We usually fit new tires when things go wrong and everything is fine. But for now it’s not good for any of us. Only with Franco, and he has a different bike “.
While Quartararo and the factory riders Maverick Vinales (6th) and Valentino Rossi (16th) sit on a 2020 Yamaha, Morbidelli is on the road with last year’s bike, which he will also use in 2021.
“Qualifying is my greatest strength, but I’m 7/10 seconds behind Franco”, Quartararo complained. «Give me a new tire and I’ll go to the limit. But my limit is 7/10 seconds behind his. Even with another new tire I would not have filled this gap, two or three tenths of a second of improvement would probably have been possible. I can’t take turns in a river, it’s all so rigid. This applies from the braking point to the apex. And we can’t do it, even with the biggest changes. “
How does Yamaha help you solve your problems? “We have a Yamaha engineer who helps us a lot,” said the runner-up in the World Cup. “In the end, the team takes care of it. It’s always nice when a Japanese engineer asks you a lot and you talk to him a lot. But I have no choice but to see the bad times now as an experience for the next few years. “
With two races left of the season, Quartararo is 37 points behind championship leader Joan Mir (Suzuki), with only 50 left. The Frenchman must beat the Spaniard in all circumstances if he is to have a chance to keep the title fight open. until the final in Portimao.
“I’m not thinking about Joan,” assured the current Yamaha No. 1. “I’m thinking about how we can make the biggest improvements possible. The team is confident they can change things. But I wouldn’t call it a strategy. I want to have fun and finish as far forward as possible.”
MotoGP Qualifying 2 Valencia results (November 14):
1. Franco Morbidelli, Yamaha, 1: 30,191 min
2. Jack Miller, Ducati, +0.096 sec
3. Takaaki Nakagami, Honda, +0.222
4. Johann Zarco, Ducati, +0.329
5. Pol Espargaro, KTM, +0.362
6. Maverick Vinales, Yamaha, +0.454
7. Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia, +0.466
8. Pecco Bagnaia, Ducati, +0480
9. Brad Binder, KTM, +0.546
10. Miguel Oliveira, KTM, +0590
11. Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha, 0.673
12. Joan Mir, Suzuki, +0.797
The remaining starting positions after qualification 1:
13. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, 1: 31,159 min
14. Alex Rins, Suzuki, 1: 31.594
15. Danilo Petrucci, Ducati, 1: 31.601
16. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 1: 31.604
17. Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati, 1: 31.606
18. Stefan Bradl, Honda, 1: 31.831
19. Tito Rabat, Ducati, 1: 32.063
20. Alex Marquez, Honda, 1: 32.205
21. Lorenzo Savadori, Aprilia, 1: 32.237
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