Fabio Quartararo is getting off to a poor start in the 2025 MotoGP season: the highly-rated Yamaha rider finishes the first Grand Prix of the year in P15
Ducati warned of Yamaha and Fabio Quartararo in the preseason. The title defenders from Bologna saw the 2021 world champion as the biggest challenger in the new MotoGP season.
But at the season opener in Buriram (Thailand), there was not much sign of this. Quartararo finished the first Grand Prix of the year 26.5 seconds behind winner Marc Marquez in P15.
This meant that Quartararo was only the third-best Yamaha rider. Jack Miller put in a strong performance on Saturday, making it through Q1 to Q2 and then securing fourth place on the grid, while Quartararo only managed P10. And Miller was also the stronger Yamaha rider in the two races.
The reasons for Fabio Quartararo’s failure in Buriram
But why did Quartararo struggle so much, especially in the long race? “At the beginning, we had a problem with grip, which I had a lot of trouble with,” reports the Frenchman, revealing, “We found that the tire still hadn’t warmed up after three laps.”
As a result, Quartararo had little feeling, especially in the starting phase. He came in 18th place after the first lap and later dropped back to 19th place. “On the first lap, I couldn’t push, I couldn’t really get the bike on an incline, and it just slipped. As a result, I lost a lot of positions and unfortunately wasn’t able to race strongly or set a good pace. It was pretty difficult,” says Quartararo, annoyed.
Quartararo owes his points finish to the retirements of Joan Mir (Honda) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia), as well as the crash of Pedro Acosta (KTM). It was already apparent from the test at Buriram that Yamaha would not be as strong in Thailand as they had hoped after the test at Sepang.
Quartararo rode the hard front tire in the race and chose the soft compound at the rear. The soft front tire was not an option. “It would have collapsed,” noted Quartararo. “I was already struggling with the hard tire.”
Quartararo was unable to take advantage of the soft rear tire in the Grand Prix. “The rear tire didn’t help us in this race either. Especially on the first lap, the soft tire should have helped at least at the beginning, but it didn’t,” the Yamaha factory rider wonders.
Alex Rins comes away empty-handed, Pramac duo ahead of the factory team
Team-mate Alex Rins experienced a disappointing start to his second season with Yamaha in Buriram. Finishing in 17th place, Rins leaves Thailand with zero points. A big disappointment, because Pramac riders Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira scored points.
In two weeks’ time, the MotoGP season continues at Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina). Quartararo confirms that Argentina could also be difficult because the track offers little grip. Handling on low-grip tracks continues to be the Achilles’ heel of the Yamaha M1.
