Fabio Quartararo faces his 'worst track on the calendar'
MotoGP title leader Fabio Quartararo faces what is probably his worst track on the calendar at Aragon this weekend.
The young Frenchman, who pushed his world championship advantage up to 65-points over Suzuki's Joan Mir with his fifth win of the season at Silverstone, has never finished better than fifth at the Spanish track during appearances in the Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP classes.
That looked set to change last season when Quartararo qualified on pole position for the opening Aragon event, only to sink to 18th place in the race. The following weekend saw the then Petronas Yamaha rider drop from sixth on the grid to eighth.
"Aragon is probably the worst track on the calendar, not for the Yamaha bike but for me," admitted Quartararo, the first Yamaha rider to reach five wins in a single season since Jorge Lorenzo in 2015.
"I have been fast there before – I got pole position last year – but I have never really been consistent.
"So this would be a great thing to fix. I want to learn at that track and be consistent there too."
"We know this is a track that doesn‘t play to our bike‘s strengths," added team director Massimo Meregalli. "With that being said, neither does the Spielberg circuit, and Fabio‘s pace was still competitive enough to challenge for a podium there.
"One thing is for sure, we are 100% committed to battling for top positions. No doubt it will be hard work, but we are ready for the challenge."
Riding alongside Quartararo for what is expected to be the second and final time this season will be test rider Cal Crutchlow, who is filling the void left by Maverick Vinales' mid-season departure until Franco Morbidelli is fit to take over the ride.
The Briton has made eleven previous Aragon experiences, with a best result of third for Ducati in 2014 and has finished inside the top ten on all but three occasions.
"I enjoyed the GP at Silverstone with the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. Overall, I felt like we did a good job, and I look forward to getting more laps in aboard the Factory YZR-M1, this time in Aragon," Crutchlow said.
"It‘s not an easy track, but it‘s one where I‘m usually competitive at, so it will be nice to ride there and continue to add to the work we‘ve done so far."
Meregalli added: "Cal knows the Aragon track really well and has always been competitive here. So, with this in mind, we are very curious to see what we can achieve this weekend."
Crutchlow has finished 17th in his three stand-in rides so far, but was still the second best Yamaha after Quartararo at Silverstone as Petronas riders Valentino Rossi and Jake Dixon struggled with tyre grip issues.
