Petronas SRT rider Fabio Quartararo's chart-topping time and recent performances have caught the eye of MotoGP veteran Valentino Rossi, who reckons the 20-year-old has a "very good future" in the sport.
Quartararo topped FP2 for the Catalan Grand Prix on Friday by 0.281s and has put in some impressive finishes in his rookie season to trail his more experienced team-mate by just three points.
"Quartararo is very, very strong," commented Rossi. "Already from the beginning of the season he has been very good and even from the last races he's been very strong.
"He rides very well, and to be a rookie is quite impressive. So I think that he can have a very good future in MotoGP."
Quartararo himself was surprised by his Friday performance given he only recently underwent surgery on his arm.
"Today was a great day. We were first on the combined timesheets and I had a great feeling," he said.
"I didn’t know how my arm would react after my operation, but things went very well. I had some pain to deal with, but I feel good.
"The first run was hard, but after a while everything went better. It was a matter of getting used to the pain, but I didn’t expect to go so well at this Grand Prix.
"We have to stay calm, which is the most important thing. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow morning and of course we will do our best to get onto the front row, but right now our goal is to be on the first three rows and go straight into Q2. We’ll see if we can have a good qualifying."
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