Fabio Quartararo reckons he performed better than ever in MotoGP this year, despite ending the 2024 season a career-worst 13th in the standings.
The 2021 world champion battled with an under-competitive bike, as Yamaha slipped even further away from its European rivals over the previous winter.
An aggressive development approach from the Japanese marque began to pay dividends in the second half of the season, allowing Quartararo to break inside the top-five in the sprint race at Sepang.
But, even with the late upturn, it was still the 25-year-old’s worst MotoGP campaign having scored zero podiums highlighting the huge challenge ahead for both him and Yamaha.
Quartararo admitted that his results this year left much to be desired, but took consolation from the fact that he extracted the most out of the package and played a key role in the M1’s development.
“In terms of riding, in terms of working with the team, I think it’s the best [season],” he said during the Barcelona season finale. “In terms of results, it’s clearly the worst.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha MotoGP Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“I learned to stay calm and try to improve the bike in the best way possible. Of course, on the inside there are moments where you get really angry, but it’s for a really short time.
“But the way we have worked hard this year has been amazing. Of course, I expected the improvement to be much faster and quicker but we found a way.
“And I think on my personal side and on the riding, I managed to get really something extra.”
Yamaha was the only manufacturer in 2024 to compete without a satellite team, leaving it with just two bikes to gather data from.
To add to its troubles, Alex Rins missed several races due to injury, while test rider Cal Crutchlow was sidelined for most of the season due to complications from a hand surgery he underwent earlier in the year.
Yamaha has fixed both problems for 2025, with Pramac joining its satellite fold on factory-spec bikes and Tech3 GasGas rider Augusto Fernandez bolstering its test team, putting it in a more equitable position against its rivals.
Alex Rins, Yamaha MotoGP Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Quartararo said a lack of available riders to test, race and improve the bike was what really held back Yamaha in 2024.
“What was missing was riders – we have only two” he said. “Cal had an injury on the arm, [so] we had…
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