I have learnt from last year, says Fabio Quartararo

Frenchman Quartararo, on a factory Yamaha, won the 2021 Mugello MotoGP race and leads the world championship

Factory Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo appears to have learnt from his experiences in the 2020 season when his form took a dip after initial success.

“I have learnt a lot from last year that when you start winning the first two races, you feel different. I had never led the championship in my life and you are there and you say, ‘what is happening?’ Actually, wins, crashes, P12, P13, by now, I have got a lot of maturity. It helps,” he said in the post-race press conference of the 2021 Italian MotoGP race in Mugello.

KTM factory rider Miguel Oliveira finished second and reigning world champion from Ecstar Suzuki Joan Mir came in third.

Frenchman Quartararo now has three wins to his name in the 2021 MotoGP season and leads the riders’ standings with 105 points to his name. Ducati rider Johann Zarco is second on 81 and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) is third on 79, while Australian Ducati rider in fourth with 65 points. Mir is fifth with 65 points.

“The plan was to get a great start because we knew that the hole shot device works pretty well. I wanted to push and arrive on lap one in corner one in first position. But it took me two laps after the crash of Bagnaia. Then I decided to push and it was difficult.

“Honestly, the wind was pushing us so wide. It was so strong. A lot of the riders saw that the curve on the outside is a little bit lower than the line. So, when you want to come back, the wind makes it strange," he added.

Second-placed Oliveira was thrilled with his second spot. “It was a fantastic weekend for us. We were discreet but strong. The qualifying was okay, the best of the season in seventh place. Everything went according to the best I could have imagined. It was a good start and positioned myself in third place.

“At the beginning of the race, I could not stay with the top group because I needed to warm up the hard front tyre and be a little more careful before I began to push. Then, everything worked well. I managed to overtake Johann and managed to keep Joan behind. It was a nice race and I really enjoyed riding. It is a good result to carry the momentum into the next race in to Barcelona," he added.

Mir said: “I tried to be as focussed as I could. I tried to do the job. I am satisfied about that job that we did. The team worked really well and I was able to make a weekend from last to this and to find step by step the good pace and a good feeling with the bike.

“Here, the goal is always the podium and we said that at the beginning of the season it will be difficult for us, but we have two podiums. We are quite optimistic and we will be stronger and stronger and hopefully will always be here (on the podium). Thank you to the team and now on to Barcelona,” he stated.