Fabio Quartararo explains that his victory at the German Grand Prix was no walk in the park and highlights how important it is for him to ride up front
There is still one race to go before the MotoGP summer break, but it is already clear that Fabio Quartararo will spend the summer break as the World Championship leader. After another convincing victory, this time at the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring, the defending champion now has a 34-point lead in the 2022 MotoGP standings on his factory Yamaha.
Just like a fortnight ago in Barcelona, the Sachsenring weekend didn’t get off to the best possible start for Quartararo on Friday. But just like in Barcelona, he and his crew around crew chief Diego Gubellini found the right way on Saturday and Sunday.
In the combination of the two Friday practice sessions at the Sachsenring, Quartararo had only taken P7. On Saturday morning, he was ranked P6 after the incident with the loose helmet visor. In time for the practice with race set-up (FT4), however, “El Diablo” found his way back to the top. After setting the best time in FT4, he took second place on the grid in qualifying. But it was to get even better.
In the race, Quartararo took the lead from pole setter Francesco Bagnaia directly in the first corner. And when the Ducati rider crashed in pursuit of Quartararo in turn 1 a little later, the Yamaha rider could seemingly breathe a sigh of relief. Nevertheless, it was not a ride. For one thing, the Frenchman was not in top physical shape. On the other hand, his choice of tyres was riskier than he had expected.
“I was not feeling well all weekend. Before the race I had a bit of a cough. Our tyre choice [for the rear wheel] was medium. That was quite risky. In the race the tyre degraded much more than I expected,” Quartararo said after the race.
Apart from Quartararo, only two other riders opted for the medium tyre on the rear wheel: Maverick Vinales and Pol Espargaro. Vinales played a good role in the race and had chances for a podium finish. But then the rear ride height device on his Aprilia went crazy. Vinales had to retire. Honda rider Espargaro played no role at all and had to suffer physically. He did not see the chequered flag either.
Quartararo was a completely different story: despite the different tyre choice from the majority of the competition, he won the race with a commanding five-second lead over Johann Zarco (Pramac-Ducati). “In the last five or six laps the rear tyre was completely gone. It was a disaster. But the feeling for the front wheel was really good,” remarked the winner.
The fall of “Pecco” Bagnaia undoubtedly suited Quartararo on the way to his third win of the season and his second in a row. But something else is crucial this year in particular, as Quartararo points out.
“It’s so important to ride in front. I’m not saying I have to lead every race consistently. But if I follow another bike that is not a Yamaha, then it is very difficult to overtake. That’s why it’s important to make up as many places as possible at the beginning of the race when everyone is still close together,” said Quartararo.
A touch of class from our podium finishers @FabioQ20 and @jackmilleraus go out of their way to reward the fans GermanGP pic. twitter.com/Pw9Gm0awMZ
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) June 19, 2022
After the race, Quartararo threw his gloves and boots into the crowd. The reigning MotoGP champion and also current championship leader visibly enjoyed the cheers of the crowd.
“Apart from Silverstone, where we had a lot of spectators on site last year, the big difference in my wins this year is that there are friends and fans at the track. It’s just great to see the full grandstands,” said “El Diablo” happily after his Sachsenring triumph.
