Rainfall prior to the start of Sunday’s grand prix at Motegi led to the entire field running the entire first lap on slicks as conditions rapidly deteriorated.
Having started 14th, Yamaha’s Quartararo elected to carry on for another lap as the majority of the field pitted at the end of the first tour for their wet bikes.
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Quartararo stuck it out for just one more lap, however, and pitted at the end of the second tour, and would go on to finish 10th when the race was red-flagged midway through.
After a wretched sprint contest on Saturday, the 2021 world champion says the prospect of only making up a few spots running the same strategy as the rest justified trying something alternative on Sunday.
“I tried to stay one more lap on the track because the track was wet, but it wasn’t raining a lot,” Quartararo told Canal+.
“As soon as I started my second lap in the dry, I clearly saw that I couldn’t stay any longer [on slicks].
“I think finishing 14th or 10th is not a very big change for us, so I wanted to try this challenge. It didn’t work but, hey, we’ll take the positives from this weekend.”
Source: Autosport