Upgraded velcro patch 'double security' for Quartararo, Oliveira ‘super fast’

Day-one of the German MotoGP was a good one for Fabio Quartararo when strictly looking at the lap times, but it certainly was not a smooth one for the championship leader as he suffered a fast turn 12 crash in FP1.  

Quartararo finished second overall as Miguel Oliveira went fastest on combined times in the afternoon. 

With all the attention on Marc Marquez due to his record around Sachsenring, and the Spaniard’s impressive race pace, it was Oliveira who made a big jump of two seconds in his lap time from FP1 to FP2 - something Quartararo highlighted in his media debrief. 

"I think Miguel [Oliveira] made a big step. I think KTM made a big step on the bike, but it looks like he is going super fast," added the Yamaha rider 

"Yeah, luckily he didn't really make a perfect start to the season, because he is riding super well, super strong, so we need to keep an eye on him for the rest of the championship."

Regarding his own pace, Quartararo felt ‘quite okay’ but alluded to the front feeling being ‘not so good’. 

Quartararo said: "I feel quite good myself. With 32 laps on the tyre I managed to make 1'22.5 with a tyre from this morning. 

"I feel quite OK, and I feel that we can improve a little bit, because the feeling on the bike was not so good today, especially on the front. 

"So we have some ideas for tomorrow, but yes, we are not so far, so I'm quite happy for today." 

Following leather-gate two weeks ago in Catalunya, Quartararo was seen taking extra care during FP1 when zipping up his leathers. 

However, there’s a much more thorough process that has gone into this weekend for Quartararo, as the 22 year-old now has added security to his Alpinestars suit in the form of an upgraded ‘velcro patch’. 

"First of all the leathers were feeling good today, because we made a double [velcro closure tab]. So if they make a new thing it's to have more security, because they know and I know that before the start of the race, I did everything perfectly," said Quartararo.

"My chest protector was good, I closed it in the correct way, and it happened. So I feel that's why we had an upgrade on the [velcro] patch, to have double security, and I think that is important. 

"But I did everything perfectly in Barcelona, and here we have double security, but it's working well and tomorrow I will have a new thing. So we will see."