| Fabio Quartararo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Quartararo at the2023 Japanese Grand Prix | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | French | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1999-04-20)20 April 1999 (age 26) Nice, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bike number | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | FabioQuartararo.fr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fabio Alain Quartararo[1] (pronounced[kwartaˈraːro]; born 20 April 1999), nicknamedEl Diablo, is a FrenchGrand Prix motorcycle rider racing inMotoGP forMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. Having won the2021 MotoGP World Championship, he is the first French World Champion in the premier class' history.[2]
Prior to his Grand Prix career, Quartararo won six Spanish junior championship titles, including successive CEV Moto3 titles in2013 and2014. Due to his successes at a young age, he has been tipped for "big things",[3] even being compared to multiple time world championMarc Márquez,[4][5] and set various age records during his progress up to World Championship level. He failed to meet the high expectations in theMoto3 andMoto2 World Championships, but made the move up toMotoGP withPetronas Yamaha SRT, and finished as rookie of the year in2019 with seven podiums and 5th place in the overall standings. After collecting 3 victories in the compressed2020 season, Quartararo moved up to theYamaha Factory Racing Team for2021 replacingValentino Rossi, and won the championship in his first season collecting 5 victories and 10 podiums.
Fabio Quartararo was born inNice, France, to a family ofSicilian origin. His father, Étienne, was a motorcycle racer who had won the 1983 French 125cc Championship and raced in the 250cc class of the1986 French motorcycle Grand Prix. On 14 July 2022, he was awarded a Knight of theLegion of Honour.[6]
Born inNice, Quartararo started his career in his native France at the age of 4. He later moved to Spain to compete in the Promovelocidad Cup, a series for young riders organised by theReal Automóvil Club de Cataluña (RACC).[7] He won championship titles in the series' 50cc class in 2008, the 70cc class in 2009, and the 80cc class in 2011. Prior to moving into the senior Moto3 series in Spain, Quartararo won the Mediterranean pre-Moto3 class in 2012, which was also denoted as the Spanish domestic championship.[4]
Moving into the Moto3 class of the CEV Repsol series in2013, Quartararo joined Wild Wolf Racing – run by former Grand Prix racerJuan Borja[8] – riding aHonda. Quartararo finished on the podium in his maiden race in the series, run in wet conditions,[8] finishing second to Great Britain'sWayne Ryan atCircuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Quartararo finished sixth in the second race at the circuit, and left tied for the championship lead with Dutch riderBryan Schouten. Over the next four races, Quartararo recorded only one top-ten finish – from pole position atNavarra – and had dropped to eighth in the riders' championship standings,[8] 37 points behind Spain's Marcos Ramírez. Quartararo finished the season strongly however, winning each of the final three races from pole position – his first series wins – defeating Ramírez by almost ten seconds in the final race atJerez. As a result, Quartararo became the first non-Spanish rider sinceStefan Bradl in 2007 to take the title,[9] and at the age of 14 years, 218 days, its youngest series champion, surpassing the previous record held byAleix Espargaró.[9]
Quartararo remained in the CEV Repsol championship for the2014 season, as he was not old enough to graduate to the World Championship level.[8] The rule, announced in2008 and introduced in2010, stated that a rider must be 16 years of age to compete in a Grand Prix.[10] Quartararo continued riding a Honda in the series, but moved to the Estrella Galicia 0,0 junior team run byEmilio Alzamora, the1999 125cc world champion.[11] Quartararo finished the season as a clear champion,[12] winning nine of the season's eleven races, and finishing second – toMaría Herrera at Jerez andJorge Navarro atAlbacete – in the other two. His eventual championship-winning margin was 127 points over Navarro,[9] who joined him as his team-mate at the final round of the season inValencia. At that final round, Quartararo also beat World Championship competitorsAlexis Masbou andJohn McPhee, with their SaxoPrint-RTG team making a one-off appearance in the championship.[9]
Quartararo's performances in the Spanish series were noted at World Championship level. In the race which supported the2014 French Grand Prix atLe Mans, Quartararo won by almost four seconds over nine laps, leading almost the entire race having started from second on the grid.[13] In August 2014, the Grand Prix Commission – consisting of representatives fromDorna Sports, theFédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), the International Road-Racing Teams Association (IRTA) and the Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers' Association (MSMA) – announced a change to the previously introduced age eligibility rules, allowing for the champion of the FIM CEV Moto3 championship (regardless of age) to compete in the succeeding season of the Moto3 World Championship.[14]
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Quartararo was announced to be joining the Moto3 World Championship in October 2014, with the publication of the championship's initial entry list.[15] He remained with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 outfit, again riding a Honda, that he won that season's Spanish title with, and he was joined by Jorge Navarro,[15] his closest rival in those championship standings. He tested the team's Moto3 motorcycle for the first time in post-season testing in Valencia, but his first lap times were not provided due to the fact that he tested without a transponder. During the first day of official pre-season tests at Valencia in2015, Quartararo set the fastest time in the third session.[16] At the following three-day test at Jerez, Quartararo was fastest in five of nine sessions, including a clean sweep on the final day.[17]
At his opening race weekend inQatar, Quartararo qualified on the second row of the grid in sixth position, just 0.123 seconds away from the pole-setting time recorded by countrymanAlexis Masbou.[18] In the race, Quartararo was ever-present in the lead group, and held the lead of the race with two laps to go, but contact withFrancesco Bagnaia saw both riders slip down the running order, with Quartararo ultimately finishing the race in seventh position. Such was the close nature of the racing that Quartararo was just 0.772 seconds behind the race winner, Masbou.[19] At the following event inAustin, Texas, Quartararo achieved his first podium finish, with a second-place finish behindDanny Kent.[20] He achieved his first pole position at theSpanish Grand Prix, a tenth of a second clear of Kent,[21] but finished the race in fourth place. On home soil atLe Mans, Quartararo again took pole position, by just over a tenth of a second from team-mate Navarro.[22] He led for a period during the race, but ultimately high-sided out of it from fourth position.[23]
Quartararo returned to the podium with a second-place finish atAssen,[24] having been part of the lead group for the entire race; he finished 0.066 seconds behind race winnerMiguel Oliveira. In the next four races, Quartararo alternated retirements with finishes of eleventh atIndianapolis and fourth atSilverstone. AtMisano, Quartararo crashed during the second free practice session,[25] fracturing his right ankle – missing the race as a result of the injury. Quartararo also missed the following race inAragon, where he was replaced by the team'sCEV Moto3 riderSena Yamada.[26] Quartararo returned for theJapanese Grand Prix, but withdrew from the race after qualifying 29th on the grid, due to continued pain.[27] Quartararo also pulled out of theAustralian Grand Prix, after qualifying 19th on the grid.[28] Quartararo ultimately finished the season in tenth place, with ninety-two points.
On 26 September 2015, it was announced that Quartararo would leave the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team to join Leopard Racing on a two-year contract from the2016 season.[29] Quartararo was considered as the title favorite for the season because of his performance in his rookie year and also because of the Leopard Racing team which won the previous year title withDanny Kent. But the season become a disastrous year for Quartararo. In the first three races Quartararo finished in thirteenth place followed by a crash in Spain. Quartararo finished sixth at his home race atLe Mans. Quartararo went pointless in six races and his best result being a fourth-place finish at Austria.
Quartararo changed from Moto3 to Moto2 in 2017 to thePons Racing as a teammate ofEdgar Pons. On his debut, Quartararo finished 7th inQatar. His only better result of the season was 6th place inSan Marino. He finished the season with 64 points in 13th place of the championship.
For 2018, Quartararo switched to theSpeed Up Racing team. He achieved his first-ever Grand Prix victory inCatalunya. Despite success in the following race with a 2nd place inAssen, the remainder of his season was difficult, achieving no further podiums and finishing with 138 points in 10th place of the championship.
In August 2018, it was announced that Quartararo would joinFranco Morbidelli at the newly createdYamaha satellite team,Petronas Yamaha SRT, in 2019.[30] He would be intended to riding with a 2018-spec Yamaha. However, Yamaha gave him a factory-spec Yamaha - known as the "Spec-B".
He qualified on pole position for theSpanish Grand Prix. With this pole position he took the record for youngest ever polesitter in the MotoGP class, a record previously held by Marc Márquez since 2013. He also qualified on pole position inCatalunya (ultimately finishing the race in second place) and the following race inAssen, setting a new lap record and becoming the youngest rider with consecutive pole positions in MotoGP history.[31] He finished third in Assen, behind Maverick Viñales and Marc Márquez. The next race at the Sachsenring, he qualified second, behind Marc Márquez. During the second lap of the race Quartararo slumped in the third corner while sitting on the inside with Danilo Petrucci. He ended up in the gravel. This crash was the first crash during a race in his rookie season in MotoGP.[32] Quartararo achieved further podium finishes on the season with a third place in Austria and four second-place finishes in San Marino, Thailand, Japan, and Valencia. He started from pole position in Thailand, Malaysia, and Valencia. Quartararo ultimately finished the season in 5th place of the riders' standings with 192 points, 7 podiums, and 6 pole positions.
At the first race of the delayed2020 season in Jerez, Quartararo qualified on pole position and went on to take his maiden victory in the premier class after briefly dropping as low as 5th place on the opening lap.[33] At the second round of the Jerez double-header Quartararo repeated the statistic by qualifying on pole and winning the race, this time leading from the outset and building a lead of over 8 seconds by the 20th lap before cruising to the finish by 4.5 seconds overMaverick Viñales.[34][35] After difficulties in the subsequent five races, Quartararo saw his early championship advantage erode by the mid-point of the season. He achieved his third win at theCatalunya round to retake the championship lead.[36] At thefirst Aragon round he suffered an injured hip after an FP3highside crash but was cleared by medical staff to take part in qualifying, where he went on to take pole position.[37] Lingering pain and struggles with the front tire in the track conditions caused him to drop quickly down the back, ultimately finishing in 18th place,[38] his first non-retirement finish outside of the points in MotoGP sincehis first-ever race in Qatar.
After a rookie season in MotoGP,Yamaha Factory Racing announced on 29 January 2020 that Quartararo would replaceValentino Rossi beginning with the 2021 season and that he would receive factory-supported machinery for his remaining season at Petronas Yamaha SRT.[39]
Quartararo started the season atLosail with a fifth place and a win in two consecutive weekends.[40][41] Two weeks later inPortimao he qualified for the pole position (afterFrancesco Bagnaia's lap was invalidated) and led the race for the last 17 of 25 laps for his second win of the season.[42][43] Quartararo would take Pole once again in Jerez, and was leading the race comfortably halfway through, when he started to suffer arm pump problems, and fell back the order, only finishing the race in 13th whileJack Miller took the win. After a successful surgery, Quartararo qualified in Pole Position in Le Mans, his third consecutive Pole, after a difficult practice session. During the race, due to unexpected weather changes and the rain starting to come down, Quartararo along with other riders switched bikes, however he was penalised with a long lap penalty when he pulled into Maverick Viñales garage instead of his own. Despite the penalty he managed to finish his home GP in 3rd, with fellow countrymanJohann Zarco taking second andJack Miller first.
Quartararo would once again take pole position, a fourth consecutive time, at the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello, but the weekend was overshadowed by the passing ofMoto3 riderJason Dupasquier, who died after an accident in pre-race qualifying. Quartararo won the race, achieving his third win of the season and dedicated both the pole and win to Dupasquier.[44] In Catalunya, Quartararo once again took pole position for a fifth consecutive time, something which hasn't been done in the premier class sinceMarc Márquez did so in2014. He finished in 3rd but was demoted to 4th after being given a 3-second penalty for taking a shortcut, and he was then given another 3 second penalty post-race, for riding with his leather suit open. The zipper was down and Quartararo removed his chest protector, breaching race rules requiring protective equipment to be worn correctly at all times,[45] thus demoting Quartararo to 6th place. Quartararo further solidified his championship lead with a 3rd place at theSachsenring, a win atAssen, and a third place inSpielberg.
Quartararo would win his fifth race of the season inSilverstone, and with two second-place finishes inRimini, andAustin, he had a 52-point gap toFrancesco Bagnaia, with 3 races to go. Bagnaia would lead with 5 laps to go inMisano, but crashed out, ending his title fight, and confirming Quartararo won the title with 2 full races to go.[46]
At the start of the season, he struggled a lot with his bike, with a 9th-place finish at the opening round. He set the pole position time in Mandalika with 0.2 seconds ahead ofJorge Martín. That was the only pole position for the Frenchman in 2022. He won 3 races before the summer break, including Portugal, Catalan, and German Grands Prix.By the end of the season, he finished with 248 points, 8 podiums, and three DNFs. Quartararo finished in second place in the final standings behind Francesco Bagnaia, after a championship battle which saw the latter overcome a 91-point lead held by Quartararo after theGerman Grand Prix.
On 2 June 2022, Quartararo signed a contract extension with the team for 2023 and 2024.[47] He took his first podium of the season at theGrand Prix of the Americas. He took two more podiums for the rest of the season inIndia andIndonesia. He ended the season ahead of teammateMorbidelli, and 10th in the rider standings.
He start the season with an 11th place at theQatar Grand Prix. In the following Grand Prix inPortugal he finished 9th in the sprint race and seven in the main race.[48][49] InUSA, he finished the main race at the 12th place.[50] At the2024 German GP, he finished the race in 11th, on a track traditionally suited to Quartararo's strengths.[51] During a season marked by Yamaha's consistent struggles, Quartararo ended the season in 13th and without a podium finish, the first season during his MotoGP career which this had occurred.
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On 5 April 2024, Quartararo signed a contract extension with the team for 2025 and 2026. Although the first 4 rounds of the championship were difficult for Quartararo, he bounced back at the Spanish Grand Prix with pole position and a 2nd placed finish, his first podium since the 2023 Indonesian GP. This was followed by another two successive pole positions at the French Grand Prix and British Grand Prix. However, Quartararo crashed out of the feature race at the French Grand Prix amidst wet weather, and did not finish the British Grand Prix due to a ride height device failure. Another DNF at Aragon marked 3 successive main race non-finishes, the first time that this occurred during Quartararo's premier class career.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | FTRHonda | CAT1 2 | CAT2 6 | ARA 12 | ALB1 EX | ALB2 Ret | NAV 10 | VAL1 1 | VAL1 1 | JER 1 | 1st | 115 | ||
| 2014 | Honda | JER1 1 | JER2 2 | LMS 1 | ARA 1 | CAT1 1 | CAT2 1 | ALB 2 | NAV 1 | ALG 1 | VAL1 1 | VAL1 1 | 1st | 265 |
| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd | WCh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Moto3 | Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 92 | 10th | – |
| 2016 | Moto3 | KTM | Leopard Racing | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 13th | – |
| 2017 | Moto2 | Kalex | Pons HP40 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 13th | – |
| 2018 | Moto2 | Speed Up | Speed Up Racing | 18 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 138 | 10th | – |
| 2019 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 19 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 192 | 5th | – |
| 2020 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 14 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 127 | 8th | – |
| 2021 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 18 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 278 | 1st | 1 |
| 2022 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 20 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 248 | 2nd | – |
| 2023 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 172 | 10th | – |
| 2024 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 113 | 13th | – |
| 2025 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 22 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 201 | 9th | |
| 2026 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||
| Total | 200 | 12 | 36 | 24 | 14 | 1708 | 1 | ||||
| Class | Seasons | 1st GP | 1st pod | 1st win | Race | Win | Podiums | Pole | FLap | Pts | WChmp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moto3 | 2015–2016 | 2015 Qatar | 2015 Americas | 31 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 175 | 0 | |
| Moto2 | 2017–2018 | 2017 Qatar | 2018 Catalunya | 2018 Catalunya | 36 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 202 | 0 |
| MotoGP | 2019–present | 2019 Qatar | 2019 Catalunya | 2020 Spain | 133 | 11 | 32 | 21 | 13 | 1331 | 1 |
| Total | 2015–present | 200 | 12 | 36 | 24 | 14 | 1708 | 1 | |||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
Quartararo currently resides inAndorra.[52]
Fabio Quartararo found Motegi a struggle on his injured foot and pulled out of the race.
Estrella Galicia 0,0's Fabio Quartararo was forced to pull out of the race before the start on his comeback from injury, as the pain in his ankle proved to be too much for the French rider.
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by | CEV Repsol Moto3 Champion 2013–2014 | Succeeded by |
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