MotoGP: Fabio Quartararo, future king of France of the discipline?
Fabio Quartararo celebrates his victory at the Catalan Grand Prix, September 27, 2020. LLUIS GENE / AFP
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
5 mins
Frenchman Fabio Quartararo won the Catalan Motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday 27 September and regained the lead in the MotoGP World Championship.
On October 11, the new nugget of French motorcycling will be on the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans, in its native country, in search of a fourth victory.
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King of the premier class.
Fabio Quartararo can dream of it now.
On Sunday, the young prodigy won the MotoGP of Catalonia and regained the lead of the world championship in front of the Spaniard Joan Mir.
For the third time this season, a Frenchman climbs on the highest step of the podium, never seen before.
Yamaha's Quartararo is now eight points ahead of Mir with six races remaining.
First French rider to win in MotoGP since 1999
Winner of the Spanish Grand Prix on the Jerez circuit last July during the opening round of a season with a calendar disrupted by the coronavirus crisis, Fabio Quartararo had become the first French rider to win in MotoGP since Régis Laconi, in 1999.
An interminable crossing of the desert which stopped in the Andalusian heat after twenty-one years of waiting, which is more its age.
The heir does it again a few days later and becomes the first tricolor in history to win twice in MotoGP.
Never seen.
In 2019, for his baptism in MotoGP, the Niçois won six pole positions, five second places in the race, and was crowned best MotoGP rookie of the year.
“
At the start of the season, I was told that I did not deserve my place in MotoGP, that it was much too early
, testified the rider in the columns of the
World
.
I preferred to say nothing and concentrate on my races, hoping, one day, to prove the contrary.
""
His season was fabulous, he exceeded all the hopes that had been placed in him,
"commented Jacques Bolle, the president of the French Motorcycling Federation.
Known by Marc Marquez
Last year, "El Diablo", as he is called, had been able to compete with Marc Marquez and his eight titles of world champion.
“
Fabio is the youngest driver on the field and, in my opinion, he's one of the fastest, especially in practice and qualifying.
I am convinced that with more experience he will also be consistent.
But I believe that, from now on, he will be a serious opponent and he will win some races,
”conceded the Spaniard before the start of the season.
Today, Fabio Quartararo has his place in the big leagues, as a contender for the crown of an enchanted kingdom.
“
We've been expecting this since his debut in MotoGP
last year.
He assumes his role with his three victories.
His natural talent is quite phenomenal.
He's a hard worker who pays attention to everything, he just has a tendency to get annoyed when things go badly.
But here we have a gifted kid, a nugget, who can reach the top of the pyramid,
”explains Michel Turco, a specialist journalist for
L'Équipe
and
Moto Revue
with enthusiasm
.
Fabio Quartararo during the Catalan Grand Prix, September 27, 2020. LLUIS GENE / AFP
At 3 years old on a bicycle, at 4 years old on a motorcycle
It must be said that the new star of the circuit already had the weapons.
Fabio Quartararo was revealed by winning the Spanish Moto3 Speed Championship (250 cm3) in 2013 and 2014, a competition equivalent to a world junior championship.
Even if he did not quickly confirm, two podiums in the Moto3 category in two years, then two podiums in Moto2 (750 cm3), including a victory at the Catalan Grand Prix in 2018, but no other title at the end of the season, his entourage is convinced that he has potential.
“
From the age of 15, he exploded everything.
At 16-17 years old, he did nothing more.
At 18-19, he regained his level and, at 20, it explodes again with madness
”, even says Johan Zarco, the other Frenchman on the circuit.
Fabio Quartararo, - who hired the services of a sports psychologist in 2018 to change his approach to pressure - comes from a tribe crazy about two wheels.
The father, an amateur rider, gave him a taste for motorcycles from an early age.
“
When he was 3 years old, when he got his first bike, he had to take off the small wheels on day one.
And at the age of 4, when he started competing on a motorcycle, he couldn't stand to finish second,
”recalls his mother in the columns of
Le Figaro
.
If no French driver has ever won the world crown, nor done better than third place in the final championship standings, Quartararo will arrive as leader of the MotoGP championship on the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans on October 11.
The young man can think of sounding
La Marseillaise
a fourth time.
And above all to continue the race for the world crown.
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