QUARTARARO BLAMES “YO-YO” DUEL WITH MOREIRA FOR MISANO SPRINT CRASH

Fabio Quartararo explained that his crash during the MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix sprint at Misano was triggered by a close “yo-yo” battle with LCR Honda rider Diogo Moreira in the early stages. Quartararo was fighting over 11th place on the opening laps when he attempted an overtake at Turn 14 and came down.

According to Quartararo, the back-and-forth nature of the duel forced him to keep pushing harder through the corners to set up the move. He described how Moreira was gaining on the straights and then Quartararo had to respond, creating a rhythm where neither rider could settle into a stable gap. “With Diogo on the straights, we were playing like… he was pulling away, trying to catch, yo-yo,” Quartararo said.

He added that the effort to stay close affected his braking and tyre behaviour as the sprint progressed. Quartararo said he struggled to manage the situation and then committed to a late braking push: “So, I struggled a lot. In [Turn] 11, I went in super, super quick. I braked late in [Turn] 12, I was pretty close.”

The Frenchman then pointed to a specific problem with the bike’s rear end during the braking phase, explaining that he felt he had “zero support from the rear when we are trying to stop.” In his account, once he was already committed to the line, it was too late to simply stay behind. “And already going in, it was too late to stay behind. So, I had to go and my front was locking already straight,” he said. Quartararo explained that when he leaned into the corner he tried to maximise the cornering, but that he “maximised too much” and crashed, admitting he “didn’t stay on my wheels.”

Despite the fall, Quartararo remounted and finished 21st, just under 2.5 seconds behind Honda’s Joan Mir. The sprint proved especially difficult for Yamaha riders overall, with Jack Miller leading the Yamaha group in 17th, more than three seconds ahead of Quartararo at the chequered flag.

Alex Rins, Quartararo’s teammate, assessed the weekend after the crash and highlighted the speed Quartararo showed in recovery. Rins called Quartararo’s pace “impressive,” noting that after crashing he was still able to claw back time lap after lap. “It’s impressive the pace that Fabio showed, because after a crash he was recovering almost one second, half a second, per lap,” Rins said.

Rins also suggested that the team’s focus for the grand prix will be to secure points, even if the overall level this weekend is tough. “Tomorrow is going to be tough,” he said, adding: “It’s clear that he has more than us this weekend. So, I think he can do a great race tomorrow. For us, one of our targets is to be there in the points. It’s going to be difficult, but we will try.”