MotoGP Jerez: Quartararo still ‘hoping for horsepower but feeling great’

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo is hoping to build on an utterly dominant display at Portimao as he arrives at Jerez de la Frontera leading the MotoGP Championship once again.

The Monster Energy rider held a six-second lead as the rollercoaster race neared conclusion last time out, and did the double at the Andalucian track two years ago. But a difficult 2021 saw his YZR-M1 cross the line in 13th after the Frenchman was struck with arm pump.

“Yeah, it was an important moment because was great for us to basically don’t have a lot of dry track,” he said of his Portuguese performance. “Was great because we know that our base is really similar to last year and straight away I was able to be fast and especially on the race to make 39.4 on lap three was quite important, and of course back to fight for the victory after a tough start of the season is always great. So is great and more when you have back to back races and I arrive at one of my favourite tracks.

“Basically it was not an issue with the bike it was an issue from my side,” he reflected on this time last year. “So I will say that I arrive much more prepared. The surgery I made last year is perfect so of course I feel we can go super fast, but we need to work on a normal weekend.

“I feel we have the potential to fight for the victory but we need to do it step by step, first Friday and then we see our speed.”

With Jerez hosting early preseason testing the championship has seen some mileage around the 4.4km layout, with 2021’s practice times also showcasing intense competition at the paddock favourite.

“To be honest, I think that in the test is always different because you never know who is going with new tyres, who is doing a lot of pace,” Quartararo explained. “During the