MotoGP points leader Fabio Quartararo reckons his Yamaha team don’t need to go “crazy” with set-up changes in order to challenge for victory in next weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Quartararo managed to increase his points advantage from 34 to 40 over Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco thanks to a strong run to third as his countryman could do no better than sixth, although he ended up nearly ten seconds adrift of eventual winner Jorge Martin and runner-up Joan Mir.
The Frenchman says it’s “clear” where he and Yamaha need to improve for the second Red Bull Ring contest, admitting that he is finding it tricky to not overheat his M1’s rear tyre, though believes that a change to the way he rides the bike is the key as opposed to a set-up tweak.
“I’m very happy because our pace was very good all weekend, and during the race I was really happy because when you go over 25 laps the race feels really long but I managed to stay focussed and even in the race I was trying a few different things when I saw Johann (Zarco) was behind,” explained Quartararo.
“I’m really happy and I think it’s quite clear where we need to improve for next week, it’s always difficult to keep the rear tyre cool throughout the race so I’m going to try and change how I ride the bike a little (to help), but luckily we’ve still been fast as yesterday for example we did the 22.9 (in qualifying.)
“The feeling is really good so we don’t need to go crazy with the settings, it’s more about changing my riding style and during the race I tried many things that worked pretty well so let’s hope to do something better for next week.”
Quartararo added that a “step” his team helped him make with the M1 towards the latter stages of the weekend was “the key” that enabled him to be in the battle for a rostrum, the seven-time premier class race winner earmarking Turn 3 as his main weak point prior to the improvement.
“I managed to improve Turn 3 (relative to early in weekend) as we made a step with the bike, and this was the key also to being able to battle for the podium as the team found something really great,” continued Quartararo.
“Joan (Mir) is always really fast here so early on he was pulling away with Jorge (Martin), but for me this is a track where I always struggle a little bit so have them (Ducati’s) behind me and hear them isn’t ideal.
“The move on Jack (Miller) was good, I braked super late and managed to not miss the apex, we had a nice battle and we both pushed to the limit.”
