Ex-Ducati’s Quartararo burning nails on ultimatum with Yamaha: “I took a seven-hour car trip to meet him. He made me believe.”

Fabio Quartararo He has had a clear message for a long time. If Yamaha doesn’t give him a bike that allows him to compete with the best next MotoGP season, the world champion will be packing his bags in 2027. The Japanese are faced with a rock and a hard situation, as the French are undoubtedly the pillars of the entire project.

Significant investments have been made for some time to attract top talent to the team, and Yamaha plans to undergo a “Europeanization” process to accelerate the development of its motorcycles. One of the basic reinforcements for Quartararo is Max Bartolini He was Dall’Igna’s right-hand man at Ducati.

“I had a great connection with Max from day one. I took a 7 hour car trip just to have a 3 hour meeting with him. He answered everything I wanted and took me from not believing in this project to believing in it.. “He didn’t say he was going back to the start, but he said he needed time because he also knew that the Japanese mentality was slower than the Europeans, especially the Italians,” the Frenchman explained in a MotoGP.com documentary.

“I’ve always worked in European factories, so it’s a nice change to work for a Japanese brand. But so far we’ve always tried to adapt to each other,” the Italian technical director explained.

V4, last hope

Yamaha’s changes for 2026 are engine changes. Until now, it was the only factory with in-line propellers, but now They will have a V4 engine. If this doesn’t work, there will be no argument for the Japanese brand to remain world champions in 2021.

“I think the change to V4 is key for Yamaha. I don’t know if it will be able to deliver performance right away, but There were no other great options for the future and we had to keep pace with the others.What must I do to make him stay? It’s very simple. It’s a winning bike. But we know that it is very complex,” Grassilli concluded.

“The only thing that convinces me is that I ride the bike and think I’m fast and I’m having fun. When I signed this year and next year it was to bring good results to Yamaha, but“Right now I just want to think about myself and my goals.” Quartararo closed