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Fabio Quartararo's sprint race in Jerez lasted a lap and a half. Unfortunately, the Frenchman ended up on the ground in an attempt to hold off Marc Marquez under braking. A front-end lock thus played a nasty trick on the French rider, who was forced to lick his wounds after the pole he had set in the morning. On his part there is therefore a lot of disappointment, but at the same time awareness for what he showed on the track riding his M1. "I felt that Marc was going to overtake me, but I still wanted to try to resist - said El Diablo - I immediately realized that it was going to be in the straight, but my bike started to shake. Unfortunately I could not stop the bike and I lost the front."
How big is the regret for the wasted opportunity?
"It has been many years that I have not been leading a race and I didn't care. Obviously I would have preferred to crash the next lap, but we are not here to fight for the World Championship. I just wanted to have fun, knowing that we have different priorities than our rivals. At the start I tried to respond to Marc, and although my race lasted only two minutes, in my head it seemed like years."
The fact remains that Yamaha sent no small signal this morning with that pole.
"I didn't expect to have four tenths in my pocket. I'm really happy about being able to end qualifying up there in front. Especially it's super great mentally, since it's all new for me to be back in front after so long. I had confidence, in fact at every point I was able to be strong especially in braking."
What do you expect for Sunday?
"On Sunday the situation is quite critical and we are aware of that. My pace however is not bad and could be in line to fight for the podium. I will therefore try to give my best."
What has changed since 2024?
"Last year was a disaster. The bike now is much more manageable, since then we have changed like 4-5 engine specs. I can in fact get more grip without having touched anything on the bike in this start of the championship."
The Ducatis always remain up there in front...
"The Ducatis are very fast, especially in the race. At the moment we don't have all the pieces of the puzzle we need to complete it. Maybe I was a little over the limit today, but I'm happy with what we did."
How were the track conditions? There were several crashes this morning....
"The track is fine, in fact I don't understand all these crashes. In the last run I put a fresher tire on the rear than the front and the situation was quite critical. That said, it's a positive day, because I didn't think I was so competitive."
