Quartararo Faces Tough Day as Yamaha Struggles with Grip at Aragon

The low-grip surface at the Aragon circuit was likely to highlight the grip issues with Yamaha’s YZR-M1 motorcycle, which turned out unfortunate for Fabio Quartararo And when the matter came to light with the Japanese manufacturer, the situation worsened significantly.

There was ample empathy for the unfortunate French rider whose Yamaha bike broke and leaped at what seemed like every turn’s exit during Friday's practice session.

To add insult to injury, Quartararo’s Yamaha was joint-slowest through the speed trap, almost 10 kph slower than Brad Binder KTM experienced this issue as well. The difficulty in harnessing and utilizing the power effectively on the road surface was clearly a significant reason for the discrepancy in their speeds.

With frantic gesticulation while out on track, it was clear that Quartararo wasn’t pleased. He left the garage as soon as the session was over, preferring to cool down before he dived into the debriefs. At least Quartararo could see the funny side when he spoke to the media, as he hops from one end of the grid to the other this weekend.

“We almost made the pole position on the other side [at the back of the grid],” joked the Frenchman initially. “A really, really tough day especially with the soft tyre. We don’t understand what really happened with electronics and stuff but not the best day and especially [since] we don’t understand why.

The issue lies in the unpredictability of these situations, particularly when riding at an angle. It’s challenging because you're unsure whether you'll encounter trouble during entry or exit from turns. As such, none of my attempts were successful; out of the four laps I completed, they involved excessive drifting and numerous errors. We definitely need to come up with a better approach.

Fabio Quartararo, who rides for Yamaha Factory Racing,

Photograph courtesy of Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / through Getty Images

When quizzed on the set-up of the bike, Quartararo was adamant that this was not the issue.

“The set-up is good," said the 2021 MotoGP champion. "We have to just understand why when we change rubber it completely changes our bike, and our electronics become crazy.”

Yamaha team director Massimo Meregalli was equally disappointed in the session understanding the problem suffered by his riders as Quartararo and Alex Rins completed the Friday at positions 18th and 15th respectively.

“They are suffering the same problem, it’s the rear grip,” Meregalli said. “They are losing the rear a lot. Every time they try, they lose the rear. So they have to try to understand how to at least reduce the slide and improve the performance.

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At the start of the session, I was quite hopeful, particularly following FP1. However, with the rising temperatures, the car’s grip significantly decreased compared to earlier sessions. To be honest, I didn’t catch any comments since Fabio had stepped out to change clothes, but I believe it was pretty straightforward.

The Yamaha crew has plenty to review tonight as they analyze the data to understand why the soft tire is causing numerous issues. Quartararo hopes they discover a perfect solution for the motorcycle’s troubles.