Of course, it is not surprising that almost all other MotoGP championship teams have shown interest in signing a contract with Fabio Quartararo next year. He is the current world champion and currently leads the championship, although he is only 23 years old. His motorcycle driving talent and willingness to do what is necessary to win are already well known.
This year perfectly illustrates the otherworldly skills of Quartararo, as three other Yamaha drivers who participated in MotoGP this year, including two MotoGP race winners Andrea Dovizioso and Franco Morbidelli, find it almost impossible to break into the top ten under the checkered flag. It is clear that Yamaha desperately wanted to keep him, and now they have announced a deal that guarantees that Quarararo will remain a Yamaha MotoGP rider for another two years, until the 2024 season. Yamaha’s desire to keep the Quartararo was only reinforced by the recent announcement that its satellite team, consisting of two riders, will switch to Aprilia motorcycles from next year.
Here is the official statement from Yamaha:
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. has confirmed with great pleasure that Fabio Quartararo will become a Yamaha factory racer in the MotoGP seasons of 2023 and 2024.
Quartararo has demonstrated excellent skills, camaraderie, and consistency over the two years spent with the Yamaha factory racing team in the MotoGP World Championship. A successful partnership led to his first MotoGP world title last year, in his very first season with the Factory team. Currently, he is also leading the 2022 standings with an advantage of 8 points.
Other achievements of Yamaha in the Frenchman’s resume are 6 race wins and 14 podiums with the factory team in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, as well as 3 race wins and 10 podiums with the auxiliary team two years earlier. A contributing factor to his success was his 16 pole positions and 38 front row starts from 59 Grand Prix weekends aboard the YZR-M1.
These achievements, in addition to his undeniable talent, unsurpassed motivation, and contagiously cheerful character, give Yamaha full confidence in partnering with the 23-year-old.
Lyn Jarvis
Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing
“We are very pleased that we have reached an agreement with Fabio to continue working with the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team in 2023 and beyond.
We brought Fabio to the Factory team last year knowing he was a special talent, but he even exceeded our expectations. It’s not often you meet a racer of his caliber. He has already demonstrated his talent and speed during his two years working for the SRT satellite team in 2019 and 2020, but when he moved to the Factory team, we really saw him getting stronger and maturing as a racer.
During the first season and a half, Fabio has achieved many successes: 6 race wins, 14 podiums, 6 pole positions, and the title of MotoGP world champion in 2021. These results were the result of a strong team effort by the rider, his team, our engineers, and all team personnel working together with a positive attitude.
As for Fabio, we know that he will always give 100%, and we have assured him that Yamaha will do the same, and we will invest in future developments so that together we can fight for MotoGP world titles for many years to come”.
Fabio Quartararo
“I am very happy to announce to all of you that I will stay at Yamaha for another two years.
In the past, it was not difficult to switch to MotoGP with Yamaha and then to the Factory team. Yamaha believed in me from the very beginning, and I don’t take it lightly. But, as they say, this new agreement was an important decision. I’m at the peak of my career, so it took me a little longer to make this decision to be sure.
I believe in the Yamaha MotoGP project and I feel that Yamaha is really motivated. And now that we have officially confirmed our decision to go down this path together, we can fully focus on the current season.
I want to say thank you to the people around me who always help and support me, as well as the fans who support me. I really appreciate all the support”.
Source: motonewstoday.com