We weren’t expecting fabio quartararo at a similar event in Portugal, after a difficult Friday. Having failed to advance past Q1, the Frenchman didn’t seem to have the pace to qualify well on his Yamaha. However, the rider from Nice secured his 10th front-row start this season, posting the third fastest time in Q2.
The rest of his weekend will be greatly facilitated by this performance, enough to bring a smile to his face in the Parc Fermé, speaking to Canal +: “Yes, I think we managed to do a really good lap. So I’m satisfied, we really did our best. There were two or three places that were still a bit tricky, but I think we did a good lap.”
Despite everything, nothing is decided yet in Portimao. The two races of the Portuguese GP weekend are likely to be difficult for Fabio Quartararo, whose M1 seems very unstable. He doesn’t know what to expect at the moment, having been unable to assess the progress made since yesterday’s final Free Practice session of the weekend, which took place in the morning on a wet track.
“Looking back yesterday, we were very, very far off,” He continues. We couldn’t do a lap this morning. But hey, it’s always better to start from the front row than further back, so I’m happy.
Finally, Fabio Quartararo addressed the unusual incident that occurred during Qualifying. Having gone off the track on his first run in Q2, the 2021 world champion had forgotten to put in his earplugs. The few laps he completed at the start of the session were therefore anything but enjoyable.
“It was awful, I left, I could already hear that I didn’t have them. It was horrible, especially on the straights with the exhausts, so there you go, I quickly put them back on, and it went well.” concludes Fabio Quartararo.
As a reminder, the weekend’s races will take place at 16:00 PM this Saturday for the Sprint. The main race of the Portuguese Grand Prix will start at 14:00 PM on Sunday. On the front row, Fabio Quartararo will start behind Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi.
ALSO READ > Portuguese GP – Qualifying: Bezzecchi takes pole, Quartararo on the front row
