{"id":600062,"date":"2019-10-23T10:33:19","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T09:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/opinion\/the-competition-to-sign-quartararo-japanese-motogp-round-up"},"modified":"2020-01-29T14:52:11","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T14:52:11","slug":"competition-sign-quartararo-japanese-motogp-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/articles\/motorcycles\/motogp\/competition-sign-quartararo-japanese-motogp-round\/","title":{"rendered":"The competition to sign Quartararo: Japanese MotoGP round-up"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Quartararo is playing a waiting game for 2021<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Fabio Quartararo heads to Phillip Island<\/a> this week aiming to score his first MotoGP win at a track where Yamaha\u2019s<\/a> YZR-M1 excels.<\/p>\n

But the 20-year-old French rookie<\/a> has no immediate plans to sign for the official Yamaha squad, despite increasing pressure from factory bosses to get his name on a contract.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a simple reason for this. Quartararo\u2019s value goes up every time he climbs aboard his Petronas<\/a> YZR-M1, with his three second-place finishes from the last four races suggest he is now the second most talented rider on the grid.<\/p>\n

Therefore, Honda\u2019s<\/a> rivals know they need the youngster if they want to try to end Marc M\u00e1rquez\u2019s<\/a> domination. It is the job of Quartararo\u2019s manager Eric Mah\u00e9 to talk with these suitors to get his rider on the best bike and on the best money, once his current Petronas deal ends following the 2020 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the factories are interested in Fabio,\u201d said Mah\u00e9, who has already secured his rider a top-spec YZR-M1 for next season. \u201cSince May [when Quartararo first dazzled the paddock with pole position at Jerez<\/a>] my first strategy has been to delay the 2021 negotiations. I don\u2019t want to fix his future 18 months before the 2021 season and after he\u2019s had only six months of MotoGP experience. The reasons are also technical, because it\u2019s too early to understand what would be the best package for Fabio, and economical, because his value will increase.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Yamaha Racing director Lin Jarvis is still hopeful of getting Quartararo\u2019s signature. \u201cFabio is happy riding the Yamaha, so I think the logical decision is to stay with Yamaha,\u201d he said at Motegi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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How does MotoGP check the fuel of a bike that\u2019s out of fuel?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

How did MotoGP\u2019s technical controllers test the fuel in M\u00e1rquez\u2019s RC213V after it ran dry on the slowdown lap at Motegi?<\/p>\n

Formula 1 cars must finish each race with a minimum of one kilo of fuel in their tanks, of which about 20 millilitres are used for analysis. There is no minimum weight requirement in MotoGP, but the sample size is similar. About a dozen tests can be undertaken on each sample to confirm that all elements of the fuel comply with technical regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only need around 20 millilitres for testing the fuel,\u201d said MotoGP technical director Danny Aldridge. \u201cSo if a bike runs out of fuel on track, by the time it\u2019s been returned to technical control the small amount of fuel that\u2019s retained in the tank\u2019s fire-retardant foam has drained to the bottom of the tank, which is enough for the tests. This was the case with M\u00e1rquez\u2019s bike at Motegi.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Suzuki test team punished for testing<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n \"Suzuki\n
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Suzuki was disqualified from FP1 and FP2 in Motegi<\/p>\n

\n Suzuki\n <\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

There was plenty of commotion in Sylvain Guintoli\u2019s<\/a> Suzuki<\/a> garage on Saturday morning at Motegi. Suzuki\u2019s test team had just been told that it couldn\u2019t use the prototype 2020 GSX-RR engines it had used on Friday. Even worse, it had been disqualified from Friday\u2019s FP1 and FP2 sessions for using those prototype engines.<\/p>\n

Therefore Guintoli\u2019s crew were in a panic, removing the prototype engines from his GSX-RRs and replacing them with 2019 engines. The mechanics worked miracles, getting him out on track five minutes into FP3.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a mistake, a misinterpretation of the rules,\u201d explained the Frenchman.<\/p>\n

You could be forgiven for thinking that banning test teams from testing new kit is ridiculous. And you\u2019d be right. But the MotoGP rulebook includes a technical regulation that forbids top factory test teams (those factories without concessions allowing them more engine development) from using anything but current homologated engines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an MSMA rule which is all about cost-cutting,\u201d said technical director Danny Aldridge. \u201cAlso, the factories don\u2019t want a wild-card rider coming to an event with a much better engine that might interfere with the championship, so test teams have to use the same engine spec as the full-time teams. It\u2019s the same with aero rules \u2013 the MSMA doesn\u2019t want wild cards turning up and trying different aero packages all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the regulations make sense, but do they really? Is a wild-card rider likely to turn up at a MotoGP round with ten per cent more horsepower than everyone else? No, that\u2019s not going to happen, because the internal-combustion engine is already so highly developed that a one per cent gain is considered impressive.<\/p>\n

And surely test teams should be encouraged to compete at races to swell the grid, to showcase new technology and generally improve the show?<\/p>\n

Thankfully, MotoGP may consider dropping this engine regulation. \u201cThis will be discussed and probably will be changed in the future,\u201d added Aldridge.<\/p>\n

Now the most important question: is Suzuki\u2019s 2020 prototype engine good enough to allow the factory to regularly compete with Honda and Ducati<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first signs are really good,\u201d said Guintoli. \u201cThe thing is that we already have a very good bike with a really nice character, so we don\u2019t want to change that. We just want to work at marginal gains \u2013 finding something a little better without compromising what we\u2019ve already got.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing about an inline-four engine is that you can have a great chassis. We work a lot on making the engine match the character of the tyres, so it\u2019s efficient over race distance, which it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, everyone wants more top speed, especially the manufacturers with inline-four engines, because raw power is the limitation of the inline-four. But from last year Suzuki already made a big step, so the bike is often faster than the Yamaha on top speed. Now we want more performance without compromising the bike\u2019s good nature, which isn\u2019t easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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