Fabio Quartararo frustrated after Argentine MotoGP: "Race pace a disaster"

Fabio Quartararo endured a frustrating MotoGP weekend, battling poor race pace.

The 2021 world champion’s grand prix was then further compromised after being hit from behind by Marco Bezzecchi at turn one of the grand prix.

"Maybe I could have finished a couple of positions higher, but realistically, it was always going to be tough,” said Quartararo.

Quartararo recovered from last to 15th place, which became 14th after Ai Ogura was disqualified for a technical infringement.

Team-mate Alex Rins was the top M1 in eleventh place.

"Race pace a disaster"

The only highlight for Yamaha had been qualifying, where Fabio Quartararo claimed seventh on the grid,

But when asked if there was anything encouraging to take away from Termas, the Frenchman was blunt, describing it only as 'acceptable'.

"No, for me, there is nothing positive," he admitted. "Maybe the one-lap pace - qualifying was acceptable because we were only a tenth and a half off the front row.

“But in terms of race pace, it was a disaster. Let’s see if we can do a bit better in the next one."

However, after finishing 15th and 14th in the two GPs so far, plus 7th and 10th in the Sprints, Quartararo isn’t setting any targets for the next round in Austin.

"Every time I expect something, the opposite happens," he admitted. "So I prefer not to expect anything."

Testing vs. Race Reality

Honda and Yamaha, the only MotoGP manufacturers with access to all of the technical concessions, have experienced contrasting fortunes in the early rounds.

While Honda has leapt to a surprise second in the constructors’ standings, Yamaha has slipped to fifth and last.

That’s despite a promising start to the year at the Sepang tests, which ended with Quartararo in third.

"When you do five days on the same track, the grip level is super high, with a lot of rubber down," Quartararo explained.

"Even at a one test day following a race, we’re much closer to the front than during the actual GP. So imagine five full days of testing - it makes a huge difference.

“But when the conditions aren’t perfect, or we overheat the tyre even slightly, it’s really difficult. Also, trying many things this weekend made it even tougher."

Quartararo is currently 15th in the world championship, two points and two places behind the leading Yamaha of Pramac’s Jack Miller.