JAKARTA - Fabio Quartararo said he would not give up after his fight for the MotoGP world title this season was hit hard thanks to the disappointing results at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain, Sunday, November 8.
The French rider moved up two spots on the opening lap after starting from P11 and looks set to overtake Aleix Espargaro of the Aprilia team at Turn 8 before both riders crash simultaneously.
Quartararo was able to get back on his bike and earn two points after finishing P14, while his main rival, Joan Mir, won his first MotoGP victory and widened his gap in the standings by 37 points.
Meanwhile Alex Rins led Suzuki to finish 1-2 that day, and found his position to climb to third place with the same points as Quartararo.
Quartarao suffered all weekend in the first race at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit when four free practice sessions and qualifying took place on a wet track.
The Petronas Yamaha rider struggled to find the speed of his M1 motorbike, and when Valencia's weather was as clear on Sunday as he had hoped, fate had a different say.
"Aleix fell in front of me and I reacted. You know at the start of the race everything is at its limit and when you see someone fall, you don't have to do much to fall, a little touch of the brakes at the angle where you normally open the gas, that means you fell, "said Quartararo as quoted by Antara from the official MotoGP website.
"We lost a lot of points in this race which were not the best realistically, but good enough.
The Ricardo Tormo circuit will host another race next week before the final series in Portimao, Portugal.
Aucune sensation aujourd'hui ... Mais prêt pour la guerre 👿 / Not feeling today ... Ready for the war 👿 pic.twitter.com/61yNObgZGx
- Fabio Quartararo (@ FabioQ20) November 7, 2020
Quartararo, who finished runner-up at the Valencia Grand Prix last year, has a second chance to avenge his disappointment and challenge the Suzuki duo who have been the most consistent riders to finish on the podium this season.
"I think we need to work in another way, not from the team, but Yamaha to take more risks trying to fight with the top riders because it looks like every rider is struggling in this race.
"Facing these two races, mathematically we can still win the championship but I'm a little bit on the other side, I just need to enjoy it because there are quite a few races other than at Le Mans where I don't really enjoy the race weekend.
"Not because of pressure or anything, but because we didn't find the right settings and it's so hard to understand why.
"Being in second place in the championship, I think we still have a great chance to finish in this place and I will never give up until the last lap and the flag is raised at Portimao," concluded Quartararo.
Mir, meanwhile, only needs to keep a minimum distance of 26 points from his rivals after the Valencia GP is over to seal the world title.
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