Fabio Quartararo tries to be calm at the press conference with which the Emilia Romagna GP starts, as if he did not have before him the possibility of conquering the MotoGP title for the first time. The 52 points it takes out of Francesco Bagnaia At the head of the general classification they give him up to 14 different combinations to close the title already at the Marco Simoncelli in Misano, and he knows that the most direct of all of them is to win the race, something that he lacked just a month ago. Let’s see now..
-First championship ball … How do you feel?
-I feel very good but, to be honest, my head is not in that part. We have to take it as a normal race, knowing that something special can happen on Sunday. First they play Friday and Saturday and we have to raise them as from the beginning of the year. And we will see on Sunday how much risk we take. At the moment Friday and Saturday normal and from there we will see.
-He talks about ‘amount of risk’ and he risked in Misano’s first race to catch Pecco Bagnaia …
-We’ll see, it’s how I like to drive. I’ve never been in this situation. I think last year I learned a lot not about how to fight a championship, because I didn’t have the option, but I did learn from being the MotoGP leader during many races. That learning was important and now it is much easier for me to be in this situation. For now it is a normal race and we will see how much I risk on Sunday.
-What does 21 races look like in 2022?
-I feel that it will be very good, I love going to different places. It is rare to always come to the same circuits, but with this Covid it is very difficult to go to places outside of Europe. But it will be very good for me and it will be a good step towards normality. I’m also looking forward to going to Indonesia, the circuit looks very good, it seems fast. Of course, I hope the calendar does not change as it has been these years …
-22 races is the limit?
-The exclusivity is not going to change, but I think, as Marc says, that over 21 or 22 grands prix begins to be too much. If we have to go to more places, it is better to change circuits, because there would be too many more races of those.
-What do you think of Öncü’s two-race sanction?
-This year has been tough for motorcycling, we have lost three kids in the small categories. Of course, the last crash was very strong, and of course it was not on purpose, but they are doing these things from the beginning. Something has to change, that is evident. It’s a shame for Öncü for having to serve such a heavy penalty, but I hope there will be many more like this for other riders if it helps to stop this kind of thing. The good thing is that after what we live in Austin, everyone is fine.