16th, 8th, 7th, a DNF and an 8th at his home Grand Prix last time out really doesn’t tell the full story of Fabio Quartararo’s (Petronas Yamaha SRT) first five MotoGP™ races as the young Frenchman gears up for his first taste of Mugello on a premier class machine.
Quartararo has been a sensation so far on board his YZR-M1 and if it wasn’t for a slice of serious bad luck in Jerez when running second, slight inexperience on the grid in Qatar and a mistake in the opening exchanges in France, where he was running the pace of race winner Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), his 25-point tally would be looking a lot healthier.
But this is MotoGP™. Quartararo won’t be focusing on the ifs, buts and maybes that have been and gone, with the 20-year-old now fully pledged on collecting a good result in the Tuscan hills this weekend. His best result at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello is a fifth place, achieved in the 2016 Moto3™ race and a repeat result in 2019 would go down a treat.
“Mugello is one of the most difficult circuits on the calendar but I’m still pushing for a strong performance,” said Quartararo. “In France, I had a great fight back through the field and the fastest lap showed the pace we can have.
“For Mugello, I want to be further up the order on the grid and make a better start. If I can do that – and show the same race pace we had in Le Mans – it should be a happy race! If we put together a clean weekend from Friday to Sunday, we can get a good result, as our potential has shown at recent races.”
Find out how Quartararo gets on when the MotoGP™ riders are out on track for the first time this weekend at 09:55 for Free Practice 1 (GMT+2), with the race taking place on Sunday at 14:00 local time.