Fabio Quartararo is up for a fight in tomorrow’s Dutch GP after losing out to fellow Monster Yamaha, Maverick Viñales, in the Assen pole shootout this afternoon.

Having broken his own circuit record with his third lap of qualifying, the Frenchman went on to set two further laps under the 1’32 barrier on his way to second place as his teammate denied him by seven-hundredths on his sixth attempt.

“The last lap, I pushed the limit a little bit too far at turn 10,” Quartararo said of qualifying.

“I locked a little bit the rear, was a small mistake but I lose two and a half tenths there but it’s like this. In qualifying you push yourself to the limit.

“In general, I didn’t have a great feeling with the soft this weekend, but in FP4 with the medium rear I felt really good, and also with the hard,” he explained when discussing his session-topping performance.

“I feel good on the pace, I feel comfortable. Also when I was riding on the first run, with the medium, I was taking care too much of the rear tyre and I think that the potential of the medium is a little bit better, but also the hard is working so well. Will depend on the warmup, but I feel like we can run with both tyres.”

Quartararo and Viñales have dominated so far this weekend, finishing every session at the top of the times with expectations high for Sunday’s 26-lap race. The Frenchman remains confident but is aware that when it comes to lights out, anything can happen.

“It’s true that we have a really good pace but in Barcelona I had the same - I had an amazing pace but at the end, it didn’t go as I planned. So I think the pace is really important, but for me, a clear race was Johann in Barcelona. He had no pace during the weekend, and he was close to the win, so I think the pace is not so important. I think is important to take the feeling on the bike for many laps but then on the race, it can happen everything.

“I think, with Maverick, we need to be clever, because it’s true that on paper we have a really good pace. So I think if we need to play something, in my opinion, is great to be clever the first lap and then see at the end but will depend.

“I feel great to fight for the victory. It’s not because my main competitors are behind that I need to be careful, for me is the beginning of the championship, we are not even in the middle, so if I have one chance to fight for the victory I will go for it. If I see I’m too much on the limit, I’m not stupid, so I will try to don’t make a mistake. Will depend on the situation, but right now I feel like I can fight for it.”

After tomorrow, the MotoGP Championship takes a five-week summer break, with competition resuming in a double-header at Austria’s Red Bull Ring. Not renown as a Yamaha favourite, is Quartararo aiming to extend his lead in the standings on Sunday to ease the burden of the Styria visit?

“To be honest, Austria is a track that last year was a disaster for us but I think more because all the problems that we had last year. We saw Maverick in Austria 2, I had in Austria 1 when I go straight, but for me the bike’s improved a lot in the braking area, and our holeshot device is working better. Electronics, we still have no problem. So I think Austria is not a bad track for us. If we consider that the bike will stay the same, I think is going to be okay. Of course, we miss the top speed, but in 2019 I’ve been able to fight for the podium, and if I’m not wrong Maverick and Vale finished fourth, and fifth, so it’s not a bad track for us, just difficult, not the easiest one.

“Watching, not only the last race but in the past, Pecco is always good with the tyre, and I think he will be there,” the Frenchman continued as he returned to Sunday’s prospects.

“I think also the Suzuki guys will be there, and Miguel - he’s always really strong on Sunday. I think for the main contenders is difficult to know but everyone is quite close so we will see, but I hope not many riders.

“Here, I will do my best. Even if I make a mistake or something, the championship is still really open so, of course I want to increase my gap in the championship but I think is not the way to approach the championship. Just enjoy the race tomorrow because it’s a fantastic track and enjoy the 26 laps!”