Breaking news
MotoGP Aragon GP
Quartararo expects “big potential” Ducati comeback at Aragon
MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo expects Ducati to bounce back from its difficult Friday at the Aragon Grand Prix and is wary of its “big potential”.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Oct 16, 2020, 9:19 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Petronas SRT rider ended Friday’s running at Aragon second overall, 0.249 seconds off the pace of works Yamaha counterpart Maverick Vinales.
No Ducati rider made it into the top 10 on Friday, with the best-placed GP20 runner Andrea Dovizioso 1.2s off the pace in 13th, behind the Avintia duo of Johann Zarco and Tito Rabat as they all struggled with the cold and windy conditions. Dovizioso has been on the podium at Aragon for the past two seasons, while Pramac’s Jack Miller ensured two Desmosedicis made it to the rostrum.
With the wind set to die down for the remainder of the weekend, Quartararo expects Ducati to figure more prominently up the order: “They will come back,” he warned. “We know Ducati is always struggling with the wind, but they will come.
“Last year they were there to fight. They [finished] second and third. Of course, Marc [Marquez] was far away, but they had a great bike to fight for the victory. So, for sure with less wind they will be better.
“Looks like the conditions will be a little bit hotter tomorrow and Sunday with less wind. So, I think they will come back and we know they have a big potential here. From my side, I hope they will not come.”
From the editor, also read:
- Aragon MotoGP: Vinales dominates FP2 as Ducati struggles
- Vinales “not thinking about” MotoGP championship at Aragon
- Dovizioso "worried" about Q2 chances at Aragon
Quartararo feels he has “something to improve” with his M1 and his riding style compared to Vinales and team-mate Franco Morbidelli, who flanked him on the timesheets. Nearest title rival Joan Mir, who trails him by 10 points in the standings, was half a second from Quartararo in fourth but seems to have made a step forward over a single lap.
Asked by Motorsport.com if he was worried about Mir potentially qualifying much closer to the Yamahas this weekend, Quartararo replied: “No, I’m not worried. The most important thing will be the pace and in the end in Barcelona, in the second corner he was just behind me. So, for me I’m not worried. Of course, it’s better if he starts further away.
“I’m not worried about that because, like I said, in Barcelona I was in third or fourth place and he was in fifth, and in the end we went to first and he was still in fourth. Our bike has some positives, their bike has some positives. But I’m not worried, even if he is ahead.”
From the editor, also read:
- Aragon MotoGP: Start time pushed back in schedule shake-up
- Iannone doping hearing decision set for mid-November
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Aragon MotoGP: Start time pushed back in schedule shake-up
Next article Aragon MotoGP: Quartararo escapes serious injury in crash
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lewis Duncan
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
MotoGP
MotoGP
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
More from
Fabio Quartararo
MotoGP riders oppose fines for missing fan events
MotoGP
MotoGP
Indonesian GP
MotoGP riders oppose fines for missing fan events
Fabio Quartararo forced to leave Monster as Red Bull returns to Honda
MotoGP
MotoGP
Fabio Quartararo forced to leave Monster as Red Bull returns to Honda
Fabio Quartararo: MotoGP should have the same number of sprints as F1
MotoGP
MotoGP
Fabio Quartararo: MotoGP should have the same number of sprints as F1
Latest news
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
1 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 2 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Dale Jr. explains why he doesn't use 'Earnhardt' in his signature
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 5 h
Dale Jr. explains why he doesn't use 'Earnhardt' in his signature
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe