Fabio Quartararo: Yamaha to have new MotoGP engine spec “before the end of the season”

A new engine specification is seemingly on the way for Yamaha’s MotoGP bike before the end of the season, but at least in Thailand this weekend Fabio Quartararo will remain with the same straight line deficit he has faced in recent races.

Quartararo has been strong in Thailand in the past, most notably in 2019 when he raced Marc Marquez until the final corner for victory in the race that ultimately saw Marquez crowned champion for the sixth time in the premier class.

The French rider is expecting a strong performance this weekend, too, at least in qualifying form.

“I think that the track will be not so bad for us,” he said, “especially over one lap. So, clearly the goal is to be in Q2 from tomorrow afternoon and try to reach a great result.”

Quartararo explained that the stronger construction rear tyre that Michelin brings to Thailand to cope with the combination of the tropical heat and the Buriram layout’s many hard, straight line acceleration zones has a benefit for Yamaha because it restricts the performance of the other bikes.

“[There’s a] different tyre that, for us, is not a big difference,” he said.

“But I think, for the others, they have less potential with this tyre. So, this I think is going to be important.

“We know that we miss the grip, and especially the acceleration and top speed in this track. But there are other things that I think we can try to manage and try to be fast.”

Yamaha’s top speed issues are hardly a secret in MotoGP, and currently Quartararo is using the slowest engine specification available because it’s the one he prefers.

But he also said that a new engine specification could be on the way to the YZR-M1 before the end of the season.

“It’s the one I like the most but also the slowest,” Quartararo said of his current engine.

“So, unfortunately, we’re missing a lot of areas.

“We will have, I think, before the end of the season a new spec [engine] with more top speed; this will be super-important because we are losing a lot in straight-line performance.”

This engine upgrade wasn’t necessarily coming with a view strictly to 2025, Quartararo explained.

“It’s a different mentality, because, with the concessions, we’re never thinking about 2025; we always think to make the bike better and better,” he said.

“We change four times the engine [specification] this year, four chassis, we will have another one before Valencia I think.

“We don’t have really a ‘2025’ bike. The bike we are using now is just evolving step-by-step, so this is what I mean.

“I think that Valencia test will be very important, because we will have a few things also different, but also the preseason test with four bikes, the Shakedown.

“We have many days of testing, so I think this will be very important for us to make a step forward.”