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Circle of life/MotoGP
Quartararo Extends Contract With Yamaha Through 2026
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Some people get what they deserve…
Lost respect for the guy. He spends every racing weekend whining about the lack of form of the Yamaha and now he renews knowing that they probably won’t be competitive anyway until his new contract ends. Now we know where his heart truly lie$…
Lost respect for the guy. He spends every racing weekend whining about the lack of form of the Yamaha and now he renews knowing that they probably won’t be competitive anyway until his new contract ends. Now we know where his heart truly lie$…
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Quartararo: Marquez's Honda exit "woke a lot of people up" at Yamaha
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Quartararo: Marquez's Honda exit "woke a lot of people up" at Yamaha
Fabio Quartararo feels Marc Marquez’s departure from Honda last year “woke a lot of people up” at Yamaha’s MotoGP project and helped his decision to stay with the Japanese marque.
Earlier this month, Quartararo inked a fresh multi-year deal with Yamaha, keeping him with the Iwata-based manufacturer until at least the end of the 2026 season.
The new contract was agreed despite an underwhelming start to the new campaign for Yamaha, leaving the 24-year-old to fight for lower reaches of the points in the opening three rounds of the season.
It also followed six-time champion Marquez's call to leave Honda with a year left on his contract and join forces with the independent Gresini Ducati team in 2024, a decision that has already allowed him to fight for podiums and race wins.
But while Quartararo didn't follow in the footsteps of Marquez and elected to keep his faith in Yamaha, he believes the Spaniard's decision to split with Honda actually worked out in his favour.
He feels Marquez's move to Gresini sprung Yamaha into action, as it showed that top riders in MotoGP are willing to trade loyalty for more competitive machinery.
"It's a moment that a lot of people have been waiting for," the 2021 champion told French broadcaster Canal+. "My choice was to stay with Yamaha, not by default, but for the project.
"I think that Marquez's departure from Honda to Ducati woke up a lot of people at Yamaha.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
"They've recruited a lot of new engineers, and a lot of things are happening in Italy rather than in Japan.
"The speed with which parts can be changed has totally changed. I think it was very interesting for me to continue with Yamaha."
Some factions have questioned Quartararo's choice to stay at Yamaha for 2025-26, amid its continued struggles in MotoGP over the last few seasons.
While the Japanese manufacturer has been overhauling its MotoGP programme by bringing in new people and changing its philosophy, while also taking advantage of the new concessions system, the jury is out on whether the work it is putting in will yield the desired results on track.
Quartararo admitted that he did consider moving to a different team earlier in the year, but his decision was swayed by the amount of resources Yamaha is dedicating to return to the sharp end of the field.
"Of course, I totally understand [that people have doubt about his choice] because even I, a few months ago, was really ready to take my departure for another team," he said.
"I'm not going to say [which one] but of course, Yamaha is investing huge sums to get a better bike. I think it's one of the only brands investing so much in this project.
"We're already going to see some improvements this year. I think that this year will be very difficult, already to fight for a few podiums, but I think that this year will be very important for the next two."
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Exactly. As I've said, look at this compared to Marquez, who has taken a drastic pay cut to get on a competitive bike.
Marc has also been making the big money for years and is set for life I'm sure. As far as I know, this is Fabio's first huge-money contract so he is setting himself up for life. He's playing the long game which, to me, shows he's got a good head on his shoulders. He is still only 25 and has time to take less money on a future contract if he needs to find a competitive ride.
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Marc himself said the difference between Fabio and him is that the Frenchman has time on his side.
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If yamaha doesn't work out he will have no choice but to take less money. I don't see this as playing the long game. He is choosing a pay check over being competitive. His stock will fall drastically in two years as other riders stock rises. The amount he will lose in two years and his choices will be smaller will hurt his long game. In two years if he chooses to leave yamaha it will be for a satellite bike. In two years he will be the next Joan Mir.
Ouch! No need to insult the lad. I kid. Mir is a champion and this cannot be taken away. When I say Fabio is playing the long game, I'm talking the rest of his life, not just his life as a racer. Of course in 2 years his stock will be down but he will still be a viable rider who has won it all and thus, sought after by someone. He will only be 27. At that time he can do what Marc has done this year as money is no longer an issue. Would Fabio's decision to stay at Yamaha been different if he had never won the championship?
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Joan Mir is 26. What do you see as his options next year? All because he chose repsol money over aprillia or a sat duc. Would Fabios decision to stay be different had he never won the championship? No but not by choice. He wouldn't have had any other options and yamaha wouldn't have had to bring the brinks truck to sign him. More so they would probably be offering that money to someone like Martin. Fabio already got a big pay day with his last contract as it was after his championship. Truth is he won't be that valuable in two years if say Martin and someone not named Pecco win the championship in the next two years. Its not what you have done in motorsport, its what you have done lately. Being over 4 year removed from a championship means very little. He needs to be competitive now. I hope somehow yamaha finds their way because I do like Fabio but I have doubts.
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Sadly, very little. Even a satellite Ducati ride might not be within reach.
Money is already no longer an issue…I think he may regret this decision if the scenarios that many have laid out here come true. Talent, or at least the kind of talent you have when you’re young, has a smaller window than we think.
Oh and don’t get me wrong, people have the free will to choose whatever they want. If Qua prefers $ to titles, he’s in his right. However, from the weekly nagging he has subjected Yamaha to in the last two years, I thought he really cared more about winning…
I vaguely remember the Yamaha engineers talking about the exhaust header length affecting the rpm at which peak torque is made, and that the M1 engine is sensitive to exhaust systems. My guess is that this new pipe allows them to easily alter the location of some exhaust gas restriction point to alter the header length and alter engine torque output.
I know enough to be dangerous. This is a semi-educated guess.
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Michael Laverty speculating that Yamaha might be developing a V4, and that kept Fabio in the team. Yamaha told to develop a V4 engine as “pull out of MotoGP” worry is addressed
Somewhat dubious claim. Laverty says that the inline 4 was an advantage prior to the aero era (before ride height, imo). The article goes on to point out that MotoGP is working to reduce aero and eliminate ride-height/holeshot devices. If the inline engine was an advantage before these systems, and these systems are going away, wouldn't an inline engine be an advantage again?
If Yamaha are developing a new V4 engine, it might be part of the horse trading for 2027. If the inline engine is an advantage without ride height and aero, it seems the V4 teams would want Yamaha to abandon the inline 4. This would be something Yamaha could use to trade for something else. They kill two birds with one stone. They keep Fabio happy by promising a V4, and they allow further restrictions to the engine formula such that all teams run V4 engines. Would this discourage BMW from joining?
Pure speculation. Time will tell.
Somewhat dubious claim. Laverty says that the inline 4 was an advantage prior to the aero era (before ride height, imo). The article goes on to point out that MotoGP is working to reduce aero and eliminate ride-height/holeshot devices. If the inline engine was an advantage before these systems, and these systems are going away, wouldn't an inline engine be an advantage again?
If Yamaha are developing a new V4 engine, it might be part of the horse trading for 2027. If the inline engine is an advantage without ride height and aero, it seems the V4 teams would want Yamaha to abandon the inline 4. This would be something Yamaha could use to trade for something else. They kill two birds with one stone. They keep Fabio happy by promising a V4, and they allow further restrictions to the engine formula such that all teams run V4 engines. Would this discourage BMW from joining?
Pure speculation. Time will tell.
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Typical Crash article where someone expresses an opinion and they run with it using the most scandalous clickbait. The engine configuration isn't the problem. This is a nothingburger, and no drastic changes will happen before the switch to 850cc engines.
Good points all but isn't Fabio's current payday more than 2x his last? Yes, we are all thinking making 5M a year is awesome but 12M is much better and he has many years it needs to last. I'm not so sure his options would have been as limited as you suggest sans his championship. He showed what he could do before winning it and lesser riders have held factory seats. cough cough..............Jack Miller............cough cough. I'm not familiar with what Mir's options were. Was he offered Aprilia or a satellite Duc? I don't remember. I dunno, these guys have such a small window to get what they can and hopefully be able to enjoy it once they are done racing. I can't fault him is all I'm saying. But yea, I also agree he has made his choice so his whining and complaining are on him at this point. No argument there.
Yeah, Crash is entering into tabloid territory. Yamaha Told (actually they weren't told) to Switch to V4 (by Michael Laverty) as "Pullout of MotoGP" Worry is Addressed (actually, Laverty said he didn't think lightning would strike twice).
It's weird. If they want to use inflammatory headlines, why not just label it as a staff editorial? They don't need to make things up and attribute them to a third party.
Yes Mate you are on the right tract, they are copping KTM in sacrificing horse power for usable torque. Acceleration is more important than the top speed, its how fast you can accelerate back, up to speed, that counts in racing.
Lengthening the pipe has the negative returning wave, reaching the cylinder later. So it tunes in to increase the torque at a lower rpm.
Exactly right about his prospects 4 years removed from a title imo. It is a point of actual fact that no one has won a further title after a gap longer than 4 years. Ducati soured on Stoner only 3 years after he won what was then their only title and despite him having won over two thirds of the races ever won on a Ducati at that time. People have even been expressing doubts about MM who might be the best ever rider or at least in the conversation for same who is also up against the 4 year thing.
Another aspect is that Yamaha have been fairly cash strapped historically, not customarily spending the sort of money Honda have spent, even struggling for sponsorship with no main sponsor at times, and paying FQ large money presumably won’t help their R and D bottom line. MM might even have been genuine in saying that making his salary available for Honda to spend on their bike was part of his reasons for leaving. The calls from FQ for bike improvement are indeed looking a little hollow just now, unless he knows something we don’t which is entirely possible. Yamaha have been known to turn around their bike, obviously with more than a little help from Valentino’s riding talent, fairly quickly on one occasion previously. What would take years to catch up for both Japanese marques is the aero stuff imo, and if that goes then it is a new ball game.
On the other hand this sort of money may soon not be available to him or anyone else going forward, and imo views in regard to the salaries of sportsmen being astronomical/unrealistic need to be tempered in general by the necessity to make the money last for the rest of their lives. Except for the likes of Rossi and MM i doubt GP bike racing brings generational wealth for most competitors, and I doubt Jack Miller previously mentioned in this thread has earnt enough for his children and grandchildren to have no monetary concerns, or even to live an extravagant lifestyle himself for the rest of his days. The problem with Jack being in a factory seat is that he is not fast enough in recent years, or perhaps more precisely unable to make his tyres last as he mostly qualifies well.
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It occurs just now that, maybe Fabulous has lost the drive to win more championships, and/or cares no more for the direction that MotoGp is headed in, what with aero, ride-height devices, air-headed race direction and the future of MotoGp under new management, and is thinking, ".... it, make hay while the sun shines." Possibly he's thinking, get married, have a bunch of kids, move to the south of France, live the simple life, maybe buy a food truck and try his hand at selling snail margaritas and frog's leg tacos by the side of the road.
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