In Indonesia Fabio Quartararo is able to fulfil his potential in the rain for the first time – This is partly due to the track, partly due to an improved set-up
MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo celebrated his first podium finish in completely wet conditions at Mandalika and surprised himself with his pace. « To be honest, never so fast in the wet, and it took me a while to realise that I could go so fast, » admitted the Yamaha rider.
The Frenchman was previously known for not doing well in the rain, but proved otherwise at the Indonesian Grand Prix. Having dropped as low as fifth at the start, he made up ground in the second half of the race and still secured second place.
« To be honest, it’s been a long time since I had this feeling on the bike, » Quartararo said of his performance. « In 2019 we didn’t have any races in the wet, but in every practice I was always in the top 10, but in 2020 and 2021 I was always outside the top 10, I could never have a good race. «
He did make the podium in the flag-to-flag race at Le Mans last year. « But mainly because I had a lead of more than ten seconds over the others in my laps with the slicks in the rain, that’s why I was on the podium. «
« It was completely wet here, » Quartararo notes, « and I had rear grip. This is exactly what I asked Yamaha to improve in these conditions. And it succeeded. » However, the World Champion admits that the special track conditions also played into his hands.
« It’s a bit of luck because when it rains on some tracks the asphalt has no grip and here it had the grip, » explained the 22-year-old. « In fact, since Austin 2021 weve been using a different set-up on the bike – completely different – and that’s been better. »
« But now we have changed one really small thing on the bike and that, plus the grip on the asphalt, helps us a lot. So we know that the little thing here, maybe if we do more, can help to have more grip on the rear in general. «