Why Quartararo’s emotional outpouring was so poignant after British MotoGP heartbreak

Midway through his post-race media interview, Fabio Quartararo fell silent, leant forward and buried his face into the crook of his forearm and bicep.

It took a split second for the assembled press pack of MotoGP journalists to notice, as the Yamaha rider started sobbing.

It is something you seldomly see these days from elite sport stars, particularly in motorsport where such outpouring of grief can be identified as a sign of weakness. No matter how upset a rider or driver gets, it is rare we see it.

Around 30 minutes before, the Frenchman had been leading the British MotoGP at Silverstone, having amassed a five-second lead.

He looked nailed-on to earn his first victory since the German GP in 2022 – and it was entirely justified after a weekend of being blisteringly quick around the blustery circuit.

However, with seven laps remaining, the ride-height adjustment on his Yamaha locked in the lowered position. He frantically signalled that he had a problem before pulling over. He dropped to his knees beside his bike and dropped his head to the floor.

It was heartbreaking to watch such an outpouring of grief – the pain of which was still evident later on, following by his emotional breakdown in the press room.

The trigger point was a question about how the weekend had otherwise been a positive one, and that was enough to “give him hope that it was possible again” to fight for wins.
He started to answer, saying: “For me, I think that exactly, what I said last time, that… I’m sorry….” before stopping, overcome with emotion.

“But fuck it’s so shit what happened today because we improved the bike and when everything is going in a good way we know we are fast.”

Quartararo had no reason to be sorry; he was consoled by his press attaché before resuming his interview a minute later. At the end, he was given a round of applause and some pats on the back by the assembled media.

It was difficult not to feel sorry for the 2021 world champion, who has endured a difficult few seasons on the Yamaha.

It also provided a timely reminder on this momentous Memorial Day of motorsport, kicking off with MotoGP, the F1 Monaco GP, the Indy 500 and finally the NASCAR Coke 600, of the emotions of these riders and drivers.

Some buy into motorsport because of the technology, but the majority because of the entertainment, and that is all down to the personalities who pilot these breath-taking machines.

These are the heroes, whose emotions are regularly masked by their helmets or threaded by fines from governing bodies. Which is why Quartararo’s tears were a moment to saviour – no matter how hard to witness.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Quartararo was consoled too by his friend and assistant Thomas Maubant, who has been at his side at the races. Maubant had sprinted over to the exasperated rider and lifted up the visor on his helmet to speak some words of encouragement.

Quartararo was asked what had been said, and he replied: “He’s my best friend and he’s the one that knows me the best. He was just telling me that today I was clearly the fastest and it was a long time [since] that.

“We are coming back, I don’t know when will be the next time, but there will be tracks where we will struggle more, there will be tracks like here when we went fast. So, we are on a good way.”

There will be better times ahead for Quartararo, undoubtedly, but this was nonetheless a moment to stop and appreciate just how much it all means.