Fabio Quartararo says he “pushed like hell” to try and deny Francesco Bagnaia in the Spanish Grand Prix and collect his second successive win.
Quartararo pushed hard to try and overtake the factory Ducati rider in the opening laps after finding himself unable to move ahead on the start, though he was eventually forced to back off after his front tyre started to overheat.
Despite mounting an attack on the Italian in the closing stanza, the Yamaha pilot was ultimately forced to settle for the runners-up position to the tune of just 0.285s, a result that has seen him extend his series lead to seven points over Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro ahead of his home event at Le Mans in France in two weeks time.
The reigning MotoGP world champion affirmed that he “pushed like hell” to try and catch Bagnaia, though the difficulties with his front tyre overheating while stuck in the dirty air behind the leading Desmosedici ultimately meant he couldn’t mount a sustained charge.
“It was difficult, my goal was to overtake Pecco (Bagnaia) in the first two or three laps but he was super fast and braking really late and tight so it was tough,” explained Quartararo.
“Then when I was behind him my feeling with the front tyre wasn’t great because the pressure was super high, so I had to make a small gap in front because I couldn’t run behind him.
“Then in the last laps I gave my best and tried to do something but it was not possible to try any overtakes because he was so fast and consistent., but I’m still very happy with the race because our pace was really strong.
“The last lap I was pushing like hell and I tried to take Turn 11 super fast on the last lap to try and attack at the last corner, but I lost the front a little so I thought there would be no chance to pass him at the last corner so I took it easy.
“Pecco was so good on the brakes, and because he was in clear air his front tyre was cooler and he is so good in the opening laps, which gives him this chance.”
Quartararo added that he was “really looking forward” to the French GP next time out, the Frenchman reckoning it will be “insane” as his first home event as a grand prix world champion.
“It’s going to be insane (French Grand Prix) and I’m really looking forward to it because I’ve never really had a French GP with the full crowd as a world champion and leading the championship,” continued Quartararo.
“The 2019 season was crazy because it was my first year in MotoGP, so I can’t imagine how it will be this year.”
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