MotoGP, Quartararo: "A Honda on the podium? Positive to have more manufacturers in front"

Fifth at the start and eighth at the finish. Fabio Quartararo ended his Motegi weekend with an all-in-all positive, but not very heartening finish, especially because of the suction effect experienced again at the start when, rivals, equipped with a bike capable of providing more grip than the M1, took over.

"I did the best I could. I started very well, but because of our grip problems I suffered several overtaking and made mistakes to try to push and stay close to them, but it was impossible, so I went ahead at my pace. Now my first goal is to improve as a rider. I did well in this race, but it's hard to be competitive against the opposition," was his analysis.

When asked if this will be the Yamaha trend between now and the grand finale in Valencia, El Diablo wavered. "We will try to do our best. Indonesia might turn out to be a good track for us. We will see the behavior of the tires, which should be different, but next week maybe we can do well. I don't like to talk beforehand, but I think we can have a good qualifying and two good races. That means we won't fight for who knows what result, but to do a little better," he confided.

Regarding Honda's return to the podium, the Frenchman denied that it could represent some kind of a wake-up call for Yamaha. "If it did, it would already be too late. We actually know very well where we are in terms of positions and we don't need a top 3 from them to understand that. It is great for the championship to see more brands among the top. As far as we are concerned, we can only improve," he admitted.

Finally, the rider from Nice dedicated a thought to Marc Marquez who, in Japan, won his ninth World Championship. "More than an athlete he is a legend. I myself seeing his images during the celebrations made me emotional. Especially those related to 2020 and his injury and then the gamble of changing teams. What he achieved this year, along the way dominating was fantastic. I'm really happy for him, because he's been through tough times and he deserves what he's achieved," he said.