Fabio Quartararo signed a victory this Sunday that has restored hope to the Yamaha box. This is the tenth victory for the French rider, the ninth in the premier class.
After a race where ‘El Diablo’ managed to lead alone, the tuning fork brand is the leader in the World Cup qualifying sheet with 69 points in Fabio Quartararo’s box. To get to this situation, the French driver needed to feel good on his M1, on a circuit where, according to Quartararo, his prototype had very good grip.
This, added to a good start, guaranteed the success of the French driver in the Portuguese Grand Prix.
“It’s the first time I’ve been this aggressive on the first lap, but it had to be,” the Frenchman introduced after finishing the race.
“I’m happy, I haven’t made any mistakes in the race.”
Fabio Quartararo, who felt very good from the warm up, managed to compete in the solo race ahead of the Ducatis of Jack Miller and Johann Zarco.
“If we had been behind [the Ducatis], we would have had a hard time,” said the Yamaha rider.
Quartararo managed to lead the podium at the Portuguese Grand Prix, having not tasted victory since the British test in the past. This situation places him as provisional leader of the championship.
“I am very happy because I have achieved my first victory of the season, and that is the most important thing for me”
“It’s been a very complicated start. When you’re world champion and you finish ninth in Qatar, seventh in Austin, bad in Argentina… well, you’re happy when victory comes.”
“The essential thing is never to throw in the towel,” added the Frenchman. “I always fight an animal to the end, but when you have the first position, the taste of victory is much better”
“In all the races we have gone very well, even when I was seventh”, concluded Fabio Quartararo, who, he assures, is looking forward to reaching Jerez next week.
MotoGP race results at the 2022 Portuguese GP
| Cla | # | Pilot | Motorcycle | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h | Abandonment | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 |  Fabio Quartararo |
 |
Yamaha | 25 | – | 25 | |||||
| 2 | 5 | Johann Zarco |
 |
Ducati | 25 | 5.409 | 5.409 | 5.409 | 20 | |||
| 3 | 41 |  Aleix Espargaró |
 |
April | 25 | 6,068 | 6,068 | 0.659 | 16 | |||
| 4 | 42 | Alex Rins |
 |
Suzuki | 25 | 9.633 | 9.633 | 3.565 | 13 | |||
| 5 | 88 |  Miguel Oliveira |
 |
KTM | 25 | 13,573 | 13,573 | 3,940 | eleven | |||
| 6 | 93 | Marc Márquez |
 |
Sling | 25 | 16,163 | 16,163 | 2,590 | 10 | |||
| 7 | 73 | Alex Marquez |
 |
Sling | 25 | 16,183 | 16,183 | 0.020 | 9 | |||
| 8 | 63 |  Pecco Bagnaia |
 |
Ducati | 25 | 16.511 | 16.511 | 0.328 | 8 | |||
| 9 | 44 | Pol Espargaro |
 |
Sling | 25 | 16,769 | 16,769 | 0.258 | 7 | |||
| 10 | 12 | Maverick Viñales |
 |
Aprilia | 25 | 18.063 | 18.063 | 1.294 | 6 | |||
| 11 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso |
 |
Yamaha | 25 | 29,029 | 29,029 | 10,966 | 5 | |||
| 12 | 10 | Luca Marini |
 |
Ducati | 25 | 29,249 | 29,249 | 0.220 | 4 | |||
| 13 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli |
 |
Yamaha | 25 | 33,354 | 33,354 | 4.105 | 3 | |||
| 14 | 87 |  Remy Gardner |
 |
KTM | 25 | 40.205 | 40.205 | 6.851 | 2 | |||
| 15 | 72 | Marco Bezzecchi |
 |
Ducati | 25 | 46,052 | 46,052 | 5,847 | 1 | |||
| 16 | 30 |  Takaaki Nakagami |
 |
Honda | 25 | 49,569 | 49,569 | 3,517 | ||||
| 17 | 40 |  Darryn Binder |
 |
Yamaha | 25 | 50.303 | 50.303 | 0.734 | ||||
| dnf | 32 | Lorenzo Savadori |
 |
Aprilia | 24 | Abandonment | ||||||
| dnf | 49 | Fabio Di Giannantonio |
 |
Ducati | 21 | Abandonment | ||||||
| dnf | 36 | Joan Mir |
 |
suzuki | 18 | Abandonment | ||||||
| dnf | 43 | Jack Miller |
 |
Ducati | 18 | Abandonment | ||||||
| dnf | 33 | Brad Binder |
 |
KTM | 17 | Abandono | ||||||
| dnf | 23 | Enea Bastianini |
 |
Ducati | 9 | Abandonment | ||||||
| dnf | 89 | George Martin |
 |
Ducati | 4 | Abandonment |
