In 2023, Fabio Quartararo started the MotoGP season with hopes of fighting for the title, after doing so until the last round the previous year. The same doesn’t apply to the season that began last weekend in Losail, with Yamaha fully aware that they don’t have the ‘weapons’ to be at the top.
The French rider, who fought for the title between 2020 and 2022, admitted that it was difficult to accept the reality in 2023, but he faces the new season knowing well that he can’t think about winning the championship:
– It’s not easy. From my side already the last year was quite difficult to accept the position I was, especially in the first seven/eight races I wasn’t feeling good personally. Also at home I wasn’t good – when you fight for the championship for three years in a row and you are in this position is never easy. But right now, speaking realistically you have to know where you are; we aren’t in a position to think about the championship.
Nevertheless, Quartararo emphasized his confidence in Yamaha: ‘I’m working a lot, I think Yamaha is working a lot also. The project is much more clear than last year. So we are making steps. It will take time, but I think we’ll be much faster’.