until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo was left “not worried but also not calm” by his run to fifth at Misano – but did suggest that the straightforward nature of his race concerned him.
The reigning champion is now only 30 points ahead of Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia in the standings with six races to go, the Ducati rider having been 91 points adrift at the halfway point of the season before reeling off four straight wins.
Quartararo looked competitive in practice at Misano, particularly on long runs, but qualified only eighth and never looked a credible threat for the podium.
Even when running in relative clean air in fifth midway through the race – having cleared Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro when the latter erred at Turn 13 – Quartararo could not make progress towards the leading quartet.
“That was the limit. Actually I was – more than angry, I was really frustrated because I know I gave my 100%. And I could not fight for more,” Quartararo said, having finished 5.771s off Bagnaia.
“So that’s something that we have to check why.
“But my pace was really similar to the practice, I felt like I had normal pace, but just to overtake or make the same way of riding as the others, it’s impossible.
“There was no problem, that’s the thing. There was no problem. If you check the pace, I had the same pace as practice.
“When I was behind the Ducatis, even if I was not so close, I felt in the braking I was not braking as late as in practice [due to the heat from the Ducatis], but then I felt everything OK, I felt quite good on the bike. That’s the thing.
“I’m not bad, but it’s only fifth.”
A slightly better result did briefly look on the table as VR46 Ducati rider Luca Marini slipped towards Quartararo late on, but Marini ultimately fought off Quartararo without too much of a hassle.
“I was closing but I was on the limit,” said Quartararo. “One time I went straight at Turn 10, I could come back to Marini, but… I had a knife here [to my throat].
“Even if I was behind Marini, to try and overtake was not possible.”
A couple more race results like Misano’s would effectively eradicate Quartararo’s points lead relative to Bagnaia if the latter’s high-flying form continues.
Asked whether he was worried, Quartararo said: “I will not say worried, but I’m not also calm.
“I made a really good race today but it’s P5, five seconds from the top.
“We are not in a great position. I just made more consistency than Pecco [during the season] but on the speed we are so slow.”
