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Fabio Quartararo says he hurt his groin during Jerez MotoGP practice in a “stupid” way after his crash, rather than during the crash itself.
Quartararo was thrown off the bike at the final corner, and it looked like his groin had taken a hit from either the rear tyre of his Yamaha M1 bike or his bent right leg being impacted by the bike.
Yet, speaking to media after the day’s running, Quartararo admitted the source of his pain – which had lingered for the rest of the day – was a more embarrassing one.
“It was myself,” Quartararo said when asked what the source of the impact was. “It wasn’t even the bike.
“When I jumped on the bike- we put something new [a modification], you know, on the fuel tank, and I jumped on it and… yes.
“I feel a little bit stupid, you know, because I crashed and had nothing [hurting] but then I took the bike and jumped [and hurt myself].”
Quartararo joked that he can still “have children” and that “maybe it was better to make a lie that it was the tyre [that hit me]”.
“But I have to say it was stupid.
“[It was a] tough five minutes after the crash, but the pain is getting every time lower and lower. But in the moment was tough. I couldn’t breathe.”
The crash had happened in the opening practice, and Quartararo recovered sufficiently to go quickest in the afternoon session, setting the pace by two tenths of a second.
The Frenchman, who is level on points with Suzuki’s Alex Rins for the lead of the championship, is widely regarded as a strong pre-race favourite at Jerez, a venue he has been superb at in the past.
“I’ve never had a really really good feeling on Friday [at Jerez],” Quartararo remarked.
“I don’t really look at the position because the position is something beside. But the feeling you have on the bike of course is good, because you don’t make this laptime [1m37.071s, four tenths off Quartararo’s own pole record] if the feeling is not so good.
“But I’m riding a little bit more aggressive and for sure tomorrow we will ride in a smooth way, trying to make the same laptime in a smooth way, or even better, because I think the grip will be better.”
