Third for Quartararo in Rain-Hit French GP Thriller

"This was the strangest race of my life. I had never done a flag-to-flag race before. We were so fast on slicks before it started to rain. I saw that Maverick and Jack were a little bit careful in the first corners and I said, ’Okay, I want to go for it‘. But then I got to Turn 9 where it was raining a lot, and without braking the bike was going right-left-right-left. I thought, ’If I manage to arrive at the box like this, that in itself would be great‘. I did arrive there at the perfect time, but then I almost wanted to go into Bastianini‘s box before pulling into my own box. Then I almost took Maverick‘s bike, it was a mess! But to take a podium in these circumstances is amazing. I never expected it in these mixed conditions. I don‘t really care about the lead in the championship, because there are 14 more races to go, but it‘s still good because it means we are doing a great job. Looking at the conditions we had today, I was scared to lose positions, but we gained one. In the next few races we need to focus and take it step by step."

“Today it was very clear that, if we had dry conditions, I would have had the opportunity to win the race. I started well from second place and took the lead. I felt incredible on the bike. I hadn‘t had that feeling since the Qatar GP, and I understood very well in that moment that I could win the race. But then after two laps it started to rain, and I just lost my concentration because I was so disappointed. I made a mistake and went wide, and I lost too much time. I was very slow for two laps and I couldn‘t do anything. But looking at the positives, it was very important for me to start well here today. It‘s been a while since I did a good start and took the lead on the first lap. We know we have good potential for Mugello." 

“This weekend has been a positive one, compared to the previous races so far this year. We were able to confirm the improvements made during the test at Jerez, so I feel better with the bike. I have been able to fight for better positions and be within the top-ten. It’s a shame that we had the conditions we did today because I was competitive in the wet and not so bad in the dry, but I suffered in the mixed conditions. The race was confusing and difficult, but it is Le Mans and has been like this since Friday. Maybe I could have done better with the medium rain tyres, but it’s easy to say this after the race. I’m looking forward to being in Mugello next, although it is a shame that there will be no fans because they are always great there.”

“Unfortunately I had a crash in the gravel on the first lap and my knee isn’t in the best shape at the moment and it twisted again when I went to put my weight on it. When I saw it was raining I decided to return to the pitbox, so thank you to the team for helping me to push the bike back. I restarted the race with the hope of picking up some points, but it was not possible. We were close though and I wanted to show my appreciation to the team. I will now get some treatment on my knee, to make sure that we arrive at Mugello in the best shape possible. I’m looking forward to going back and I hope that our bike continues to go well there and we will see what happens.” 

“Like predicted, we were completely at the mercy of the weather today, and in the end we had almost every condition imaginable. I think Fabio did a really good job adapting from dry to wet to mixed conditions, especially taking into consideration how we started this weekend in the wet and that he had never done a flag-to-flag race before. He has made great progress in changeable conditions these last few days, and to do it only a week after his surgery is all the more impressive. It‘s such a shame it rained, though, also for Maverick. He had a good start, and his pace on the first laps was actually really remarkable. It‘s a pity he lost his concentration when it started to rain and he went wide. It also didn't help that the soft-soft rain tyres put him at a disadvantage when suddenly a dry line started to form with about ten more laps to go. All in all, it‘s been a very tricky weekend for everyone, and this race was a bit of a lottery. But what we got out of this GP is that our pace in the dry is very strong, so this gives us some extra motivation for Mugello, which can be quite a tough track.”

“That was one difficult, unusual and complicated weekend! It wasn’t the best MotoGP race for us overall. Valentino was on the pace and was just inside the top-ten mid-race, but after that his pace dropped off a bit. We also had Franco crashing out within the first lap. Although he continued hoping to get some points, he unfortunately finished 16th. The most important thing now is to make sure that his knee is okay for the next round at Mugello.”