Quartararo ‘motivated to win but needs more top speed’

As the 2022 preseason fires into action at Sepang tomorrow, MotoGP Champion Fabio Quartararo is still searching for one thing: top speed.

With Monster Energy Yamaha launching its bid to claim not just the riders, but team and manufacturers titles for the coming year, Quartararo echos the same comment he concluded his winning season with. His YZR-M1 needs more horsepower.

“The request I have is I need more top speed,” the Frenchman said simply from Malaysia ahead of the weekend’s two days on track. “There is no problem in the box. Everyone is like a family, everyone has really good atmosphere in the box. I don’t need someone that knows me really well, but someone who will find horsepower. We will see tomorrow!”

Having claimed the MotoGP Championship in only his third season in the premier class you might expect the 22-year-old to feel the pressure of defending the title this time around, but you’d be wrong. Quartararo is both confident and relaxed ahead of the coming battle and more motivated than ever now he knows what it’s like to be on top of the world.

“Is not extra pressure or extra weight for me because I achieved my dream since I was a kid,” he explained. “I did it! Most of the riders can’t achieve that goal so I don’t feel is an extra weight. I feel it’s more like an extra motivation because I felt the feeling of winning the world championship and I want to do it again.

“Of course everyone have pressure but I don’t feel like someone who has more pressure or not, for me is a total new year. I start the year with no championship. For me it’s like I don’t need to defend my title, just need to win it and that’s it. Last year is last year and this is a brand new year, brand new year for everybody. So that’s it, no