After the moderate performances at the Czech GP, the Austrian Grand Prix and the Styrian Grand Prix, can Fabio Quartararo claim that he is still one of the serious contenders for the title? Sure, the Frenchman won the first two races in Jerez de la Frontera and is still leading the overall standings, but after the strong start to the season, the driver from the Petronas Yamaha SRT racing team ended up with a disappointing 7th, 8th and 13th.
The shape curve points downwards and Quartararo says: “With the current problems it is actually impossible to think about the World Cup.” On the other hand, the Yamaha rider also says: “We are of course still one of the favorites, but I’m not as confident as I was in Spain.”
In Austria it was clear that Yamaha would have problems. The first weekend in Spielberg already showed that. The braking problems, which even cost Maverick Vinales the race, made Quartararo struggle in the warm-up on Sunday morning. He had to take a trip into the gravel bed twice. When asked about it, he admitted that he was to blame once.
But it wasn’t just the brakes that Quartararo had to struggle with. He says: «I’m leaving Austria with no positive feelings. We have to find out what happened, where our weaknesses were. In advance, I had the feeling that more would have been possible. But when I drove after Aleix Espargaró, I noticed that there were problems in several areas and I didn’t expect that. The difficulty with braking made the race really dangerous. “
After the Vinales accident, Quartararo sought contact with old master Valentino Rossi while entering the pit lane. “I asked him whether he also had problems with the front brake. We need the brakes in Spielberg and we had difficulties every time we tried to brake. “
A better placement than 13th place was simply not possible, confirms Quartararo: “I always give 100 percent. We need to speak to the factory now. The situation we are in is not easy. We have a lot of work to do. “
Now Quartararo has a year of rest from the unloved Red Bull Ring and with a view to the next Grand Prix, the 21-year-old decides: “Misano is better for us again.” This would help to stop the negative trend and to maintain P1 in the overall ranking.
MotoGP results Styria GP:
1. Miguel Oliveira, KTM, 12 Runden, 16: 56,015 min
2. Jack Miller, Ducati, +0,316 sec
3. Pol Espargaro, KTM, + 0.540
4. Joan Mir, Suzuki, +0,641
5. Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati, + 1.414
6. Alex Rins, Suzuki, + 1,450
7. Takaaki Nakagami, Honda, +1,864
8. Brad Binder, KTM, + 4,150
9. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, + 4.517
10. Iker Lecuona, KTM, + 5,068
11. Danilo Petrucci, Ducati, + 5.918
12. Aleix Espargaró, KTM, +6,411
13. Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha, + 7.406
14. Johann Zarco, Ducati, 7,454
15. Franco Morbidelli, Yamaha, + 10,191
16. Alex Marquez, Honda, + 10,524
17. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, + 11,447
18. Stefan Bradl, Honda, + 11,943
19. Bradley Smith, Aprilia, + 12,732
20. Michele Pirro, Ducati, + 14.349
21. Tito Rabat, Ducati, + 14,458
World Championship status after 5 of 14 races:
1. Quartararo, 70 Punkte. 2. Dovizioso 67. 3. Miller 56. 4. Binder 49. 5. Vinales 48. 6. Nakagami 46. 7. Rossi 45. 8. Mir 44. 9. Oliveira 43. 10. Pol Espargaró 35. 11. Morbidelli 32 12. Zarco 30. 13. Kidneys 29. 14. Petrucci 25. 15. Alex Márquez 15. 16. Aleix Espargaró 15. 17. Lecuona 13. 18. Bagnaia 9. 19. Smith 8. 20. Rabat 7. 21. Crutchlow 7. 22. Pyrrhus 4.
Constructors’ championship after 5 of 14 races:
1. Yamaha 88. 2. Ducati 87. 3. KTM 82. 4. Suzuki 57. 5. Honda 46. 6. Aprilia 20.
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