CALMER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER
When assessing the ups and downs of Fabio Quartararo’s career, perhaps 2021 shouldn’t have come as a surprise. This wasn’t the first time the Frenchman had undergone something of a transformation. From the most hyped rookie in Moto3 history, he then drifted into years of wilderness, in danger of becoming an example of placing too much expectation on a young talent too soon.
From 2018 to 2019, he went through a similar metamorphosis. From a one-time winner and very occasional threat in Moto2, Quartararo was reborn as Marc Marquez’s chief rival in MotoGP, amassing seven podiums for a satellite team formed only at the beginning of that year, across one of the more impressive rookie seasons in memory.
And so, 2021 has seen further wholesale changes to the rider once labelled ‘The Next Marquez’ when he was just 15 years of age. An occasionally petulant and often erratic performer who imploded when leading last year’s championship with five races to play, Quartararo has looked every bit the finished article from his early forays in Yamaha’s factory team – all in the space of one preseason.
Quartararo has single handedly flown the flag for Yamaha all year long, fighting his way through the hoard of fast Ducatis. He has been quick everywhere, with the exception of Aragon. Five wins were each achieved in swashbuckling style. But it was the manner in which he bounced back from crushing disappointments – the arm pump during the Spanish GP, ‘zippergate’ a month later in Barcelona – that he showed
