Despite qualifying in pole position for the fourth time this season, Fabio Quartararo crashed out of the Sprint Race at Assen.
It was a mixed Saturday for Fabio Quartararo at the TT Circuit Assen. In the morning, he was able to claim his fourth pole position and set himself up nicely for the Sprint Race.
However, after losing ground to the Ducati riders in the early laps, the 2021 MotoGP World Champion ended up crashing on the ninth lap.
"We now know that we are really fast on Saturdays," Quartararo told MotoGP.com after his crash in the Sprint Race.
"Over one lap, it is achieved; we know we can be fast. But we know that we cannot make great results in the races because we cannot overtake.
"We cannot prepare any overtake, or be close enough to the front guys. We need to have a start like we did today (Saturday), and we need to remain at the front for as long as possible.
"At the moment, we are struggling with the engine power, the grip, and all the small things like the anti-wheelie.
"But let's see tomorrow if we can make an adjustment on that."
The Monster Energy Yamaha rider revealed that he was not surprised that the Ducatis had better pace than him, as he has better pace on one lap rather than across the race distance.
"No I was not surprised," he explained.
"Across one lap, you do not think at all about saving any of the tyre, you just go full throttle, but in the race, you need to think a bit more.
"We are struggling a lot in that aspect, we overheat the tyre. Which is something that we have to adjust, as well as braking stability, because we had a new rear and used front, so it was a bit tricky."
When asked if he believes he can fight for victory on Sunday, the Frenchman was pessimistic about his chances of winning his first Grand Prix since the 2022 German Grand Prix.
"There are many things that need to happen," he stated.
"But I think we are not ready yet, in tricky races like Silverstone, we were able to be there. Hopefully, we will have another situation where everyone struggles like at Silverstone, and we feel good.
"I will push to the maximum always, I think it is the first season where I am crashing this amount of times. Because I want to win, and I want to be there, unfortunately, this is what happens when you are on the limit at every single corner."
