Portimao MotoGP: Fabio Quartararo: There will be a big accident, 2 x 25 laps better
Update: Joan Mir has received a long lap penalty for the contact with Quartararo.
Starting eleventh, the 2021 world champion lost ground due to a launch control issue then dropped to last on the opening la🗹p when Joan Mir bumped into the side of his Yamaha during a fumbled pass.
Quartararo climbed swiftly to tenth place - setting what would be the s♏econd fastest lap of the race - where he remained un♋til briefly taking ninth and the final point from Alex Marquez on the penultimate lap.
But the Gresini Ducati rider retaliated, leaving Quartara🌺♐ro in tenth place, 5.9s behind race winner and reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).
“We had a problem with the launch control, with second gear,” Quartararo explained. “So it was a good start but then when I shift♌ed to second, I lost so many positions. And then I got hit by Joan, and I was last.
“The pace✱ was not too bad, but we need to improve our one lap to have a better grid position.”
“I was behind Alex and Johann at the end and I ꦡsee clearly where we are worse,” he added. “We have some points where we are also good, but in this tr🐠ack, we cannot take really the benefit of this. So it was tough.”
“We have strong points, but the strong point we ♒have compared to the others, we cannot really take the profit from here. The edge grip that we have is a lot, but when you make the lap time in MotoGP it’s not in the corner speed. It’s when you open the throttle and pick up the bike and that's where I was losing so much with all the guys in front.”
Sprint ‘a jungle’, safer to do two full races
The action-packed Sprint may have been entertaining to watch, but Quartararo felt that for safetꦉy it would be better to have two full length race🔥s.
“There will b🐎e a big accident. I mean, it’s a junܫgle. We are not in cars, that in the end you touch and it’s not a problem,” he said.
“It's the same for everybody. I don't want to complain, but at the end it’s safety. It's not a problem to touch in the last laps with Alex - we to🐠uch🔥 3-4 times, it's racing. [But] in the first laps this is about getting crazy.
“I🌳 think that for safety it's better to do 2 x 25 laps than 12 laps. You also have a little bit more time to recover if you lose positions.
“[Today] it looked like the first lap was the last lap… it is normal because you don't want to lose positions. In the future, everybody must have to fight like this. That's what I think is quit𝔍e dangerous.
“Today only Marini and Bastianini crashed. Fo⛄r sure in the future, there will be many more crashes.”
It later emerged th🐎at Bastianini has fractured his shoulder, potentially r🐟uling him out of not only Sunday’s race but next weekend’s Argentine round.
Quarta🦄raro’s team-mate Franco Morbidelli finished in 14th.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Ross⛎i come and go. He is at the f▨orefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
