Barely 48 hours have passed since Fabio Quartararo crossed the finish line of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, in which he was proclaimed MotoGP world champion. He is the first Frenchman to achieve it and the first Yamaha rider since Jorge Lorenzo , in 2015. The celebration was in keeping with the feat achieved, although it left the protagonist of the last World Championship without a voice.
Despite the hoarseness, El Diablo took the call from Motorsport.com while traveling by road on his way home to Nice.
Ask. Who was the first person that came to mind when you crossed the finish line?
Response. My father. Well, both of us, the whole family, but above all, my father. For all the miles we ran together when I was little so we could run. I don’t want to talk nonsense, but we did fifty or sixty thousand kilometers a year to go to training and races, even more. That image is the first thing that came to me
Q. Three years ago you were just another Moto2 rider and this Sunday you received congratulations from Emmanuel Macron. Is it hard for you to digest everything that has happened to you?
R. It is absolutely crazy. Above all, if we take into account that in 2018 we were very low. The progression has been brutal. All this is going to give me a very big push with a view to the future. Right now I still can’t believe what has happened, I could never imagine how quickly, at only 22 years old, I would achieve this. And the good thing is that I have many years ahead of me to continue fighting to make more dreams come true.
P. Before you were talking about 2018. Despite the difficult times, were you always a happy kid?
R. I am always like that, even in the most complicated moments I have been happy. That is the most important thing in life. In those moments, despite not getting the results I wanted, I was doing the work I always dreamed of. I often think of people who have a really hard job, or those who have to do something they don’t like every day. That is incomparable with us. Even when the results were not good, he was happy in life.
Q. How did you feel when you were chanted by the fans at Valentino Rossi’s house and after beating Bagnaia?
A. Seeing the Valentino fans celebrating the title with me, even playing it against me with Pecco (Bagnaia) and in the last Vale race, was something very special. It is something that I take with me forever.
P. The entire paddock, from your direct rivals to the rest of the teams, were very happy for you and congratulated you. How do you make everyone like you?
R. The truth is that I am very happy to see that riders like Marc are happy for me. They know how hard it is to be at this level. Sunday was the happiest day of my life, and it’s also partly because of that.
P. Will you run lighter from now on because of the pressure that has been removed?
R. I had the pressure before the race, but when I’m on the bike I don’t have it. Maybe in Misano he did show up a little bit, because he knew he couldn’t make any mistakes. I think that will take a load off me with a view to the last two races, but next year we will start again. I wouldn’t say I’ll do it from scratch, but almost. Of course, I’m sure I’ll make it much happier.
(Before reading on, click on this link or scroll through the photos to see Fabio Quartararo’s celebration)
Q. What are the keys to the change you have made compared to last year? So it started just as strong, but in the second half of the course it fell apart.
A. This year’s Yamaha is not much better than last year’s, but we have found some sensations on top of it that allow me to go much faster. What we improve the most is the front end, but in the end, Yamaha always had the most balanced chassis. I would say that more than improving the 2020 bike, what we have done has been to recover something that we lost along the way. Personally, every time I go out on the track I improve, and those sensations that I have found thanks to the front end have allowed me to take a very big step.
P. Do you think that the current Fabio would have been champion last year?
R. To win the title I would say that he would not have caught up with me, but surely we would not have finished eighth overall. I think that in 2020 my logical position would have been to finish third, but I managed it quite badly. That allowed me to learn a lot to be able to win this year.
Q. Does this title have more merit if we take into account that it has not been an easy year for Yamaha? I say this, above all, because of what happened with Viñales.
R. It has not been an easy year for Yamaha, but when you go through difficult times is when you enjoy the most if successes come later. Seeing this Sunday, in Misano, all the engineers and the Project Leader celebrating the title, was a huge contrast with the first race of the year, in Qatar, where everything was very cold. It shows that the stress and pressure have been removed. This title makes it possible to forget all the difficult moments that Yamaha has gone through.
P. You have never had any qualms about admitting that at specific times you went to a sports psychologist. Do you think that also makes you stronger in the eyes of others?
R. I have no problem assuming it. The last time I went to see him was in December 2020, and I haven’t been this year. I was there for an hour and a half, but throughout the year, when there have been times when I was pissed off and stressed, I thought about that conversation I had. That really helps me, but I don’t go very often.
P. What whim are you going to give yourself after winning the title?
A. I haven’t thought about it yet. What I do know is that this year’s Yamaha is going to go home in no time. That is an unbeatable whim.
P. When you reach such a great communion with your motorcycle, aren’t you afraid that Yamaha will touch it and destroy it?
R. The only thing I ask for is more power. We were able to test the 2022 chassis at Misano and it works very well, but what we lack is power. What I really ask of Yamaha is to gain top speed, to make my life a little easier when overtaking. Without going any further, in the first race in Misano, only if he had had a little more top speed he could have won.
P. Do you want to compete with Márquez when he is 100%?
A. A lot. Marc is fit, he has won the last two races and I really want to fight with him. Marc is an example that I have followed for many years. I like him a lot as a rider and as a person, and the fights we had in 2019, even though he almost always won them, I remember them as the moments in which he was able to learn and enjoy the most. They allowed me to say that I was running against an eight-time world champion runner.
