Fabio Quartararo says his Yamaha MotoGP bike is “not well balanced” in comparison to the Ducatis after a disappointing start to the season.
After a promising pre-season for Yamaha, many were speculating that the Japanese manufacturer might be the nearest challenger to Ducati’s dominance.
However, the factory team was unable to reach the top ten at either the Thai or Argentine Grands Prix, with both Quartararo and Alex Rins struggling to keep pace with their rivals despite having strong qualifying pace.
The races at COTA saw Yamaha rise to best-of-the-rest behind Ducati, with Quartararo sixth in the Sprint and Miller taking fifth in the main race.
During his fights with Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli during the Sprint, Quartararo admitted he could tell where the Yamaha was losing out to its competitors.
“In straight braking, we are quite OK,” he said via Crash.net.
“But where you have to brake with lean angle, like Turn 15, compared to them, they really stop the bike with both wheels, and we stop only by the front.
“Trying to follow them, I was really pushing the front, making some mistakes, but also some good saves. So we have to improve our rear, not only on the traction, but also on how to stop the bike.”
Quartararo: Yamaha MotoGP bike ‘not well balanced’
Despite suggesting his team were losing out in the braking zones, the French rider dismissed this was the issue, instead suggesting the M1 lacked rear grip.
“The braking is not the problem, the bike is not well balanced.
“The front feeling I would say is maybe one of the strongest even [compared] to the Ducati. I can really feel everything I have on the front.
“I’m using a lot of front brake compared to them, but they really use both wheels to stop, even on the sliding.
“We only brake by the front and if you put lean angle with a lot of front brake it’s quite tricky.
“I can really feel the limit and pick up the bike before the front is completely closing. So like I said, it’s a strong point that we have on the front.
“The problem is I have a really good front and bad rear. The rear is not helping to really stop.
“It’s difficult also on acceleration, on mid-corner. Even on changing direction the bike is sliding a lot.
“It’s something that we are trying to work a lot on, to find the balance on the rear and find much more grip.”
However, Rins suggested he was initially “struggling more with the front than with the rear” in Austin.
“I saw [Quartararo’s] data and he’s braking later than me, but to copy his setup is quite difficult because we have different riding styles,” Rins said.
Rins admitted he “changed the set-up quite a lot” for the grand prix, which he believes puts him in a “positive” direction.
“Step by step I recovered, and I was able to finish in P11. We will keep working, and let’s see if we can have a good feeling in Qatar.”
