Final sector costs Quartararo Aragon pole; ‘will try to work on my riding style’

Fabio Quartararo had to settle for third during qualifying for the Aragon MotoGP, even though the Yamaha man took provisional pole after the opening run. 

Quartararo put in a stunning 1:46.727s lap time to leapfrog the three Ducati’s of Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller at the beginning of Q2.

And while Quartararo looked like improving that time on each of his next three laps, it was Bagnaia who did so to take pole. 

Quartararo eventually lost out on P2 as Miller got a slipstream from the Yamaha rider during his final lap. 

Whether it’s been time-attack or race pace, Quartararo has looked like a potential podium challenger or even race winner at times, however, the Achilles heel being the final corner continues to bring with it certain problems. 

It’s certainly a surprise given the nature of the corner which is about being deep on the brakes but also carrying corner speed - two areas Quartararo and the M1 Yamaha have been so strong at in 2021. 

But when speaking about what’s the main issue, Quartararo called it a ‘combination’ of the bike and himself.  

"Sector four is a sector that okay; the Yamaha is not that great but I’m doing something wrong on the last corner too," added the 22 year-old. 

"So, I think it’s a combination of everything as to why I’m slow on that sector. But, we will see. 

"Always we try something in the FP2, FP3, FP4 and the pace of FP2 was a little bit better. 

"So, tomorrow morning we will go out on the base setting and I will try to work on my riding style in the last corner.”

Quartararo said he was also surprised by Ducati’s pace after they struggled at Aragon in 2020.  

Quartararo said: "I knew in one lap that I was pretty fast here. Last year we made a pole position in the first race, but the Ducati’s were not that fast last year. 

"I think that’s also a point that I didn’t expect, but I’m really happy about that lap time because it’s the maximum I could get."