Revealed: Special French MotoGP livery for Fabio Quartararo
French GP poleman will run special livery on Sunday
MotoGP French Grand Prix polesitter Fabio Quartararo has unveiled the special one-off livery he will race with on Sunday as hopes to end a three-year victory drought in front of his home crowd.
Fabio Quartararo delighted a buzzing Le Mans MotoGP crowd on Saturday morning when he snatched pole position away from Marc Marquez with a new lap record at the Bugatti circuit.
It marked the 2021 world champion's second successive premier class pole, following on from his Q2-topping run two weeks ago at the Spanish GP - which ended an 1134-day wait for the Frenchman.
Quartararo went on to finish second in the Spanish GP on his factory Yamaha, which represented his and the Japanese brand's first podium since 2023.
After that result, he revealed that he would be running a special one-off livery for his home French GP this weekend.
In front of packed grandstands on the main straight on Saturday evening, Quartararo unveiled the special colour scheme for his M1 and his race leathers that he will use in the 27-lap grand prix.
Running a revised livery at Le Mans has become a tradition for Quartararo in recent years.
On Saturday in the sprint race, Quartararo led for the first five laps of the 13-lap contest before eventual winner Marc Marquez came through on him at Turn 8.
Quartararo's push to hold the lead in the early laps ultimately burned up his soft rear tyre, which led to Gresini Ducati duo Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer overhauling him in quick succession.
The Yamaha rider ultimately took the chequered flag in fourth place, which is his best sprint result of the season and his highest placement in the half-distance races since the 2023 Dutch GP weekend.
He admitted afterwards that he was "disappointed" to miss the podium on Saturday in France, but says "it's good" to feel this way as it shows that Yamaha and himself are aiming for bigger results.
Quartararo isn't the only rider sporting a special livery on Sunday in the French GP.
Yamaha satellite team Pramac will sport a revised colour scheme to celebrate Alpine, the French car manufacturer who became a partner of the squad this season.
