Yamaha riders lately have tended to wrestle in moist situations, however extra so when the observe begins to dry, with a scarcity of rear grip the primary reason for their woes.
Although he wound up over 14 seconds from victory within the flag-to-flag French GP, Quartararo nonetheless emerged from that occasion with a podium, marking a turnaround in moist fortunes for the French rider.
Nonetheless, in an FP2 session which began moist however dried throughout the 45 minutes, Quartararo was over two seconds off the tempo of Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori down in fifteenth, with fellow Yamaha riders Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi at SRT twentieth and twenty second, whereas Maverick Vinales was effectively over a second slower in ninth.
Quartararo was left baffled by his lack of type within the moist on Friday and is apprehensive forward of a doubtlessly rain-hit race on Sunday.
“This morning was fairly okay,” he stated when requested by Autosport if Yamaha’s moist climate issues had returned.
“I imply, we stayed with the identical tyres, we didn’t change.
“And after the 5 lengthy weeks with out using I all the time want a bit of little bit of time to come back again and I feel it was nice tempo, significantly better feeling than 2020.
“However within the moist situations, it’s nonetheless the identical, like I’ve no feeling.
“When it’s completely moist, I’m not good and we aren’t the perfect, however as quickly because it’s half and half I’ve zero feeling on the bike and I’m not having fun with it in any respect.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Manufacturing facility Racing
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“So, we have to discover a resolution for these situations and it’s unusual.
“Straight grip is de facto unhealthy on the moist, I used to be with [Jorge] Martin and Pol [Espargaro] and on the braking and turning I used to be not unhealthy.
“However simply as quickly as they opened the throttle… it’s not about energy, it’s simply in regards to the grip on the straight line. It was type of a nightmare of an FP2.”
Quartararo additionally refuted ideas his lack of rain using expertise in MotoGP may very well be including to his points, noting: “No, as a result of Valentino is among the most skilled riders within the moist and I feel we have now the identical downside.
“So, in 2019, my first yr, I feel I by no means completed out of the highest 10 within the moist and we made Brno, Motegi, Phillip Island, powerful tracks the place we’re struggling rather a lot now and it was our robust factors in 2019.
“It’s one thing I don’t perceive as a result of the moist is one thing that I don’t like, however I’ve all the time been within the high 10 in 2019.
“Final yr and this yr it’s a extremely unusual feeling, so I don’t know.
“So, we have to discover a resolution as a result of Sunday it’s imagined to rain and I’ve zero feeling.
“I don’t know the place I’m, so I’m a bit upset, however we nonetheless have tomorrow. So let’s see and hope we have now an enchancment.”
He added: “We have to discover a resolution as a result of I’m not that unhealthy within the moist, we made a podium at Le Mans.
“So, one thing occurred with this observe that we’re misplaced.
“Final yr was the identical, we have to discover one thing actually as a result of it’s not regular that we’re so distant from the highest guys.”