Fabio Quartararo claims Yamaha 'further than ever' from competing in MotoGP after Qatar disappointment

Fabio Quartararo feels that his Yamaha team are "further than ever” from rival teams in the early knockings of the 2024 MotoGP season.

The Japanese manufacturer did not win a single MotoGP race last year, the first time that had happened in two decades, with the M1 model unable to compete.

Sunday’s Qatar MotoGP offered the chance to demonstrate improvements made over the summer, but the French rider had a tough time even finishing the Sprint race and then came 11th in the full-length event.

His team-mate Alex Rins was even further back, as the Yamaha debutant came in 16th.

Speaking after the race, Quartararo was asked if it was the worst the bike has ever been.

"Compared to how the level is right now, I would say yes," he said.

"We improved, so this is something difficult to say. But the level of our bike compared to the others, it's true that we are further than ever."

He added: "We are further than last year. We have improved a little bit but they are even better and faster than last year.

"So, the gap between all the European manufacturers and us is even bigger – even to Honda it felt that today we were missing something, and they are also struggling a lot. But I felt we were even worse today."

Quartararo noted that the struggles at Yamaha also matched those at fellow Japanese manufacturer Honda, saying they were in a "championship of the others, because honestly we're six Japanese bikes and it feels weird that they are so far back."

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