Quartararo on speed wobbles: I was stupid

Fabio Quartararo says the combination of crosswinds and taking the wrong line down the Assen back straight caused his Petronas Yamaha to suffer high-speed wobbles during the Dutch MotoGP as he took the blame for the problem.

The MotoGP rookie has claimed back-to-back podiums with third place at Assen, following up his second place from the Catalan round last time out, battling in a leading group with Maverick Vinales and Marc Marquez before dropping off over the closing laps to settle for the final spot on the rostrum.

While fighting at the front Quartararo appeared to suffer scary speed wobbles powering down the back straight on his Petronas Yamaha, while none of his rivals had the same issue, which repeated itself for a number of laps during the race.

Quizzed about the wobbles after the race, Quartararo put it down to a bad mix of wind across the Assen track and his racing line which was tighter to inside of the track on the exit of Turn 5.

“I was riding quite well apart from the mistakes out of corner five, all weekend we were fast and we were checking data with Maverick and other Yamaha riders, I think all weekend we took a lot of experience and saw how they take corner five at the end,” Quartararo said. “I told myself I am stupid and the bike is shaking all race. At the end when I took the outside line it was much better. So it was a good race for us.

“It was a little bit my fault because when I was behind Maverick and Marc I tried to be even more on the inside but the bike was moving even more so I saw that they went more to the outside and that was much better.

“I think it was a combination of the wind and me doing the wrong line at this stage but the last lap I was going more to the outside and the bike was much more stable. We took experience and I think it is good to see how they ride.”

Quartararo remains sixth in the MotoGP riders’ championship but has closed to seven points behind leading Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi.