Fabio Quartararo: Low temperatures “better” for Yamaha but ‘no expectation’ at Barcelona MotoGP

The 2024 MotoGP season ends this weekend in Barcelona, with lower temperatures potentially helping Yamaha, Fabio Quartararo thinks.

MotoGP last raced at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya earlier this year when the Catalan Grand Prix was held on 24-26 May.

Then, the ambient temperature was 26C for the Grand Prix, with the track temperature recorded at 47C. This weekend, however, it seems unlikely that ambient temperatures will exceed 20C.

This will have an impact on the track surface, with less heat theoretically leading to better grip levels — crucial at Barcelona, whose track surface is notoriously low-grip.

“I think that there is no clear expectation for this weekend,” said Fabio Quartararo, who qualified 17th in May, Yamaha performing especially poorly in the hot and low grip conditions.

“The real expectation [this weekend] is to go into Q2 from [Practice], and then see how it’s going because with the lower temperature it will be better for us, because we know it’s a really low track grip.

“So, in terms of results for us it’s not the best for us at the moment, but for Tuesday I think it’s one of the best to see if we really made an improvement or not.”

Quartararo added that he expects the lower temperatures of November, compared to the Catalan Grand Prix in May, to help Yamaha’s performance.

“For us, I think it will be better, because when it’s really hot this track changes a lot in terms of grip; I mean the grip becomes really low and the lap times become really slow,” he said.

“We raced I think in 2020 in a really cold condition, also — was not so bad for us, and I think it will be really important for us to see the front tyre that basically is the one that we will struggle the most to warm, especially in the morning. In general, I think it’s a bit better.”