It had to happen sometime. After just one fall as a MotoGP rider, during practice in Barcelona, rookie star Fabio Quartararo made his first race mistake at round nine in Germany.
On the front row for the fourth time in a row and fifth this season, despite a small dislocation to his left shoulder in practice, the Frenchman missed a gear at the start and completed the first lap in seventh place.
Disaster then struck when he tried to pass Ducati's Danilo Petrucci on the inside through the long Turn 3 right-hander, sending Quartararo sliding into the gravel.
"I made a mistake for sure," Quartararo said. "Our start was not so bad, but unfortunately I missed a gear on the straight and didn't really brake like I wanted at turn one.
"Then on the second lap I tried to overtake Petrucci, but I hesitated a little too much about whether or not to do it and ended up going into the corner with too much lean angle, too fast and I lost the front.
"So yes it's our first mistake in the race, first crash. But we learned something today, don't hesitate to make an overtake. For me it was a good experience, so we will go from here with a lot of things for the future and come back stronger.
"Sincerely, we had a really good pace to fight with the top guys, but it can't always be positive for us and never negative! Today we crashed, we saw that Alex [Rins] crashed also, so at the end some riders were happy today and in the past I was happy."
Disaster for @FabioQ20!
The @sepangracing rider crashes out on lap 2! #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/6UbiW0Y4Rb
— MotoGP (@MotoGP) July 7, 2019
Although not under any threat as far as top rookie in the world championship, the incident has cost Quartararo top Independent honours, by three points, to Jack Miller.
Nonetheless, Quartararo has surpassed all expectations during the opening half of his first season as a MotoGP rider.
"I'm really happy about this first half of the season, from Jerez is where we made a big step and after that we've made five front rows, three pole positions, two podiums," he said.
"So at the end, the first three races of the season were like a test for us to learn. Now I'm really looking forward to the second half."
The summer break also comes at a good time for Quartararo, who is yet to regain full fitness after arm pump surgery on his right forearm in June and now has the left shoulder injury.
"I will see the doctors about my shoulder and my arm, then have some rest during the holidays and after of course I will train hard and try to feel 100% for the second half of the season." Quartararo said.
"I thought that at the end of the race today the shoulder would feel really bad, but I only made one lap, so it's okay!"
The Sachsenring marked Quartararo's second DNF of the season, after a technical problem with his gear shifter in the Jerez race, and his third non-score after starting from pit lane in Qatar.
Joan Mir (Suzuki) was top rookie in seventh place in Germany, while Quartararo's team-mate Franco Morbidelli finished ninth.
