After Francesco Bagnaia raced to pole at the MotoGP French Grand Prix, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo claims it’s difficult to defeat Ducati in qualifying since the racers perform “something crazy.”
On Saturday at Le Mans, Bagnaia dominated a Ducati 1-2 ahead of teammate Jack Miller, establishing a new lap time of 1m30.450s to earn his 2nd pole of the 2022 season.
Quartararo fought for pole position all the way to the finish line, but had to give defeat and accept for 4th position on his factory Yamaha for his home round.
Given how good the Ducati is in qualifying trim, the Frenchman wasn’t unhappy that he didn’t make the first row.
“I was disappointed, but two minutes later I was happy,” Quartararo said of qualifying fourth at Le Mans on Saturday.
“On the qualifying, we miss something – all the time, not only in qualifying.
“Ducati is able to really do something crazy. And the riders, I would not say only Ducati.
“But we are all the same in the race pace. So, it’s difficult to really make the difference.
“The difference you make is putting yourself on the limit, having a little bit less fuel and putting yourself in a zone that for 27 laps is impossible.
“So, I’m quite happy because I think 1m30.6s with our bike is… I feel on the limit, I have nothing more, and compared to the other Yamahas the gap is quite big.
“So, it’s also a reference for me that we are doing a good job.”
Not only does the Yamaha have a lower peak pace than the Ducati, but it also strains more than other bikes while racing behind other machines with higher front tyre pressures.
Quartararo had to slow down in his pursuit of Bagnaia at the race before in Jerez to prevent his hard front tyre from heating.
But, if he can’t clear Bagnaia, Miller, and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro early, the Yamaha rider is convinced he won’t have the same problems as Jerez on Sunday at Le Mans.
“No, because in Jerez I was alone with the hard front and already it was on the limit,” he said when asked if he was concerned about a repeat of his Jerez race.
“Here we have the soft front and the front tyre is not overheating and doing high pressure.
“So, I’m not worried. I don’t have a lot of overtaking points of course, because the Ducati in the acceleration zone is always playing [with us].
“But 27 laps is long and you always have the opportunity to attack.”
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