Yamaha spearhead Fabio Quartararo misses out on the top 10 at the Sachsenring – A lot of work on the electronics, problems with the M1 in all areas
Two years ago, Fabio Quartararo won a race at the Sachsenring for the last time with Yamaha. Back then, he needed 41 minutes and twelve seconds for the 30 race laps. Now Quartararo’s race time was 40 minutes and 57 seconds. This put him eleventh in the Grand Prix. On Saturday, no more than 13th place was possible in the sprint.
Yamaha also continued its testing work in Germany. As in Assen, Quartararo rode with the new engine specification. “There are two things that are important depending on the track,” says the Frenchman. “These are turning and grip. Turning has improved with the new engine.”
“Here you ride a lot at an angle and grip is very important. These are things you can’t influence when riding.” However, a lack of grip is not the only problem with the M1. Because in the race, there are disadvantages everywhere in direct comparison with the competition.
“It’s about the braking phase, the grip at corner entry and exit, the traction control. We don’t just have one problem, we have to work on all areas. A lot is missing with the electronics. We are working on that.”
“We tried a lot with the electronics. I was in a group in the race and I saw exactly where we were losing out. Unfortunately, we didn’t find a solution. We tried a lot of things but didn’t find anything that would allow us to make clear progress.”
“We knew that it would be difficult on this track. But I didn’t expect it to be so difficult,” sighed the former world champion. Quartararo was 17 seconds behind in the Grand Prix. But only seven seconds would have been enough to be the first Ducati pursuer.
“I don’t really care about the position,” he says. “But the race was better than expected. We lack a lot at the start with new tires. My gap is pretty much the same compared to the sprint. That was pretty good.”
“But there are aspects that we don’t fully understand and need to analyze. This mainly concerns the initial phase with new tires. We have no performance at the start. We need to improve that.”
As Alex Rins had to take a break due to his injuries from Assen following an operation, Quartararo had a new team-mate in Germany. Remy Gardner finished 20th in the Sprint and 19th in the Grand Prix on his debut with the M1.
Yamaha now has twice as many championship points as Honda in the manufacturers’ standings. Yamaha holds 48 points and Honda 24
