Quartararo: Mugello win “not a great feeling” after Dupasquier death

MotoGP Italian Grand Prix winner Fabio Quartararo admits his Mugello victory comes with “not a great feeling” following the tragic death of Moto3 racer Jason Dupasquier.

Swiss rider Dupasquier was involved in a horror accident in qualifying for the Moto3 class on Saturday at Mugello and had to be airlifted to hospital in Florence, where he was said to have been in a “very serious condition”.

Tragically, the 19-year-old succumbed to his injuries, with MotoGP issuing a statement on Sunday morning that Dupasquier had passed away.

The MotoGP paddock held a minute of silence on the grid ahead of the 23-lap premier class race, with the riders carrying tributes to Dupasquier.

Quartararo dominated the Mugello race after an early crash for Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, with the Yamaha rider easing to his third win of the season.

Dedicating his win to Dupasquier, Quartararo admits every time he passed through Arrabiatta 2 where the incident happened he was thinking of the young Swiss rider.

“Strange, strange day,” Quartararo said in parce ferme after the race.

“Honestly, [there was] a lot of emotions before starting the race.

“I get emotional really fast in every condition, so to start the race during that one minute of silence was really difficult and every time I cross Turn 9, I was thinking about Jason.

“This one is for him. Yes, in general it has been a good weekend for us.

“I also want to dedicate this one to my mum, which in France it’s mother’s day.

“It’s not a great feeling. You achieve a win, but we lose one of our friends. So, it’s not easy.”

Race winner Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Quartararo continued to pay tribute to the late Dupasquier in muted podium celebrations after the race, with the Yamaha rider carrying a Swiss flag onto the rostrum.

Dupasquier’s death has been met with widespread messages of condolences from the motorsport world on social media.

Earlier in the day, Dupasquier’s Prustel GP team withdrew from the Moto3 race, while his fellow Swiss rider Tom Luthi pulled out of the Moto2 contest to be with Dupasquier on Sunday.

Quartararo now holds a 24-point lead in the championship standings heading to next weekend’s Catalan Grand Prix, with Johann Zarco his nearest rival now after finishing fourth at Mugello on his Pramac Ducati.