Fabio Quartararo admitted that he “can’t wait” to try Yamaha’s new 2023-specification M1 machine following his title defeat to Francesco Bagnaia in the Valencia Grand Prix.
The 2021 MotoGP world champion led the ’22 standings for the bulk of the season despite a slow initial start, the Frenchman’s impressive consistency teamed with pace affording him a 91-point advantage over Bagnaia at the half-way point of the campaign.
His season turned from that point onwards though, a crash with fellow title contender Aleix Espargaro at Assen in June – having entered the race as favourite to win – proving to be the catalyst of a collapse relative to that of Ducati racer Bagnaia, who won five of the final ten races to turn around his huge deficit to win the title by 17 markers in the end as Ducati dialled in its challenger.
Quartararo struggled with the greater frequency of start/stop style circuits that didn’t suit his underpowered M1 as much as the generally faster and more flowing European venues, leading him to admit following a fourth place result in Valencia that he “can’t wait” to try his new M1 – which possesses a more powerful motor than his current prototype – as he looks to reclaim his crown in 2023.
“It was a tough race, especially on the right side of the tyre, but I gave my 100%,” explained Quartararo.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough today to fight for the podium or the victory, so I’m disappointed but congratulations to Pecco (Bagnaia) for his title.
“Today was hotter and the left side of the front tyre was completely soft, and that was a point where we lost the race.
“He (Bagnaia) made an incredible last part of the season, we knew that Ducati was the fastest bike in the second part of the year as well as the first but he was the best of them so congratulations to him, but I can’t wait for Tuesday to try our new bike.”
Yamaha ended up a distant second in the constructors championship to runaway-winners Ducati – who picked up the top score on 12 of the 20 occasions – and a disappointing fifth in the teams table, mainly as a result of Franco Morbidelli’s tough campaign on the sister factory-run M1 as he picked up only two top ten finishes across the year en-route to 19th in the rider’s standings.
