MotoGP Argentina: ‘Window for bike to work is really small’ - Quartararo

Fabio Quartararo is raring to go at Termas de Rio Hondo with Monster Energy Yamaha unaffected by the freight issues plaguing the paddock.

While much of pitlane is still awaiting parts, bikes or even entire pitboxes, the Yamaha factory outfit is set up and ready ahead of a now shortened two-day weekend in Argentina.

“I have everything so we could start!” Quartararo joked from Thursday’s press conference before becoming more serious on the subject at hand. “It’s a shame and we really cross the finger that it arrives tomorrow. Basically will be a challenge, most of all for the mechanics because they will have a lot of work.

“Saturday will be a long day but I think for the TV will be nice to have all in row, then we will see if it’s a great or not for us but at least we will have all in one day just missing one practice.”

While Quartararo has past experience of the Termas track, it hasn’t always been positive for the 22-year-old. His final season in Moto2 saw the Frenchman line up 28th on the grid and complete the action six places higher. Four years later, however, he returns as the reigning MotoGP World Champion.

“To be honest is a dream,” he said of the rapid success. “Because when you have always good moments you feel is not normal, but as soon as you think about, for me here four years ago I was on P28! I was super far and you never know if you’re gonna reach MotoGP or not. From that moment to now, I think this race was the worst of my career. One of the most difficult but is the one that really made me change so I will say that now is a great memory because I can laugh about this race.”

Mandalika’s inaugural race produced a podium for the Yamaha front-runner, but while his pace at the track in preseason testing had