Fabio Quartararo began preparation for the Americas GP in a strong third but the Monster Yamaha rider is far from happy after a mixed day in Austin.
Quartararo’s main concerns come not from the ever-changing tropical southern weather but from the conditions of the vast and technical track. With bumps already the topic of conversation on MotoGP’s last two visits to Texas in 2018/19, the Frenchman is disappointed with the poor conditions and lack of progress made with the ageing surface.
“We told them three years ago they need to resurface and is even worse,” an exasperated Quartararo said on Friday evening. “It’s just acceptable to race. I don’t know what to say but it’s a joke.
“Is acceptable but, I mean the track is not a MotoGP track for me,” he continued. “For me is a track to train, but to make a race here? For one lap is okay but 20 laps, you will see that, for me, there will be some bad moments.
“The [team] just told me that they see a lot of the bike shaking in turn 10.,” the Yamaha rider elaborated. “The thing is that the bumps are in the worst places possible. Because if you have bumps in turn 1, 11, 12 is okay, is slow corners, but turn 2, 3, 10 is the worst corners you can ever have bumps, and there is bumps there, so let’s see.
“I usually don’t go to the safety commission but when there is something serious, I go, and today something really serious for the safety. The track is unsafe. It’s clear to say that is not great and we need to resurface everything I think.
“For me is dangerous, is really dangerous. On the race, the first two laps will be a mess I think. Turn two, three, and 10 is a really dangerous part of the track, already we thought bumps but is one level more.
“I’ve made 12 laps today in a row. Okay, I make some mistakes and I go wide but physically I was feeling good. I think that, yes, is going to be the toughest race of the season but let’s see what happens.”
Reflecting on his title campaign, and the fact that he already has Jack Miller ahead of him in the standings after the opening day, the Frenchman didn’t seem worried.
“At the end, Jack always goes fast here, in this track. But my main rider to look is not him, so I’m happy if he’s there also, you know in the mix. So for me it’s good.
“I know that I’m the only Yamaha on top. The bike is doing quite well, we are missing a lot of things to improve but I think that we are in a good shape, so I try to make the difference but is difficult,” he concluded.
