Quartararo knows he can “fight at the front” in MotoGP Dutch GP

Fabio Quartararo expects to put his short dip in form behind him at Assen this weekend, where he believes he can “fight at the front” in the MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix.

Having put his Yamaha on pole position at three successive race weekends early in the European season, the 26-year-old struggled at the latest two rounds in Aragon and Italy.

But the Frenchman explained on Thursday that conditions in the Netherlands should see him return to his front-running ways as he looks to convert the potential he showed in qualifying at the Spanish, French and British GPs.

“I think this is one of the only weekends where I can say on Thursday that if the weather is pretty good we can make a pretty good result this weekend and be really competitive in every single session,” said Quartararo, whose best race result thus far was second place at the Spanish GP.

“So yeah, I’m looking forward to this weekend.”

Asked why he was feeling so optimistic, Quartararo pointed to four specific factors that will be different compared with the Italian GP at Mugello.

“[Long] straights, [hot] temperatures, [low surface] grip and degradation of the tyre. These are the four things that make our bike really bad. At Mugello, [all] four of them were there – and normally the four of them are not here.”

As the 2021 Dutch GP winner pointed out, Assen lacks a definitive straight, usually delivers cooler temperatures, offers a grippy surface and does not cause major tyre wear. Initial forecasts suggest that the temperature this weekend is unlikely to creep above 30C as it did in Italy.

Quartararo continued: “I feel like we can have a great opportunity this weekend. I don’t know if [I will fight] for the victory, for the podium or for the top five but at least I know I can enjoy fighting at the front.”

The Frenchman added that he was no longer feeling any pain following the shoulder dislocation he suffered in Italy last weekend.

Meanwhile, his team-mate Alex Rins shutdown ongoing speculation that he is also continuing to battle old injuries, saying on Thursday that he was “at 100% and I do not have any issues riding the bike.”