Although the Yamaha rider was expected to fight for victory at Le Mans on Sunday after showing the strongest race pace all weekend during free practice sessions, the Frenchman made a poor start from fourth. on the grid that compromised his career.
And although he still leads the championship four points behind Aleix Espargaró, Quartararo says the fact that he cannot make any mistakes on the 2022 Yamaha means he cannot be considered a favorite for the title.
“No, I’m not the favorite by far,” he said when asked if he thought he was still the top contender.
“The only thing I can do is not make mistakes. If I’m not mistaken I can be there, because our pace in every GP we go to -apart from a few like Austin and Qatar-, looking at the pace in Jerez, with Pecco [Bagnaia] we were The fastest.
“Here in the pace, for me I was the fastest. But as soon as you make a little mistake, you’re gone.”
“I remember a race last year when Pecco [Bagnaia] started a race at Portimao in P11, and he was able to overtake.
“In the second race I was in the same situation in P6 and I stayed in P6. I don’t know what I can do, to be honest, because I’m on the limit. This is the most frustrating thing. That’s why I don’t feel like a favorite this year.”
Quartararo added that fourth place at Le Mans was not his “real” position and he felt lucky having seen the Suzuki drivers and leader Bagnaia go down.
“I’m not happy at all with my career,” he added.
“I had three crashes in front of me, I can’t be happy with the race because my real position is not fourth, it’s much further back.”
“And it’s not about the pace, because if you go through all the practices, we had the best pace.”
“But then you’re in a position where you don’t have a clear track or you can’t overtake, then it’s over,” the Yamaha rider lamented.
“And that’s why I wasn’t even mad because I’ve kind of gotten used to it already.”
“What is certain, I always give 100%, but today I gave it my all and I had a moment where I almost lost the lead in the last corner, Aleix took half a second of difference and in five corners he was already behind. Then , in terms of speed, I was fast,” the Frenchman concluded.
