Fabio Quartararo is over the moon following an “amazing” debut victory in the 2020 MotoGP season opener at Jerez.
The Frenchman claimed a dominant 4.6 second success over factory Yamaha racer Maverick Vinales in the Spanish grand prix, his first in the premier class in only his second season.
Quartararo-who sealed a switch to the factory Yamaha team to replace Valentino Rossi next season-recovered from a poor start from pole, in which he dropped to fifth over the opening laps, to take the lead from Vinales after the Spaniard ran wide at the final turn on lap seven and never looked back.
The Petronas SRT man praised the level of training he had completed during the Covid-19 enforced five month break since the season was meant to get underway in Qatar back in March as a key ingredient required to bring home his debut win.
“It feels so good you can’t imagine,” said Quartararo following the race.
“I trained so hard during the five month break with my trainer and friends, and honestly as soon as I got here (Jerez) I was fully ready and confident.
“Even so it still feels amazing to be here in first position, it was a tough one because it was so hot and being consistent in these conditions is not easy.”
Quartararo conceded that Marc Marquez-who after dropping back to 16th following a run through the Turn 4 gravel was consistently the fastest man on track- was “really fast”, but that this didn’t take away from his performance out in front.
“I saw that Marc (Marquez) was really fast, he had a tough crash but will be fast in the future,” added Quartararo.
“The most important thing is that we are confident and really precise with the bike, and finally I can say I’ve got my first victory.”
