until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Reigning MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo has agreed terms with Yamaha on a new contract extension that will keep him at the manufacturer until the end of the 2024 season.
The 23-year-old was promoted from the Petronas SRT Yamaha satellite squad into the works team for 2020 and won the marque’s first riders’ title since 2015 the following year.
However, there were doubts surrounding whether Yamaha would be able to keep hold of Quartararo beyond 2022, with the rider’s agitation with the lack of top speed and the lack of overall progress from the M1 bike growing louder during the off-season and the start of the current season.
That agitation seemed to abate, however, and now that Quartararo – who leads the current title race by eight points from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro – has agreed a new contract, it comes as little surprise.
“We brought Fabio into the factory team last year knowing he is a special talent, but he even exceeded our expectations,” said Yamaha MotoGP boss Lin Jarvis. “One doesn’t often come across a rider of his calibre.
“With Fabio we know he will always put in 100% of his best effort, and we have assured him that Yamaha will do the same and we will invest in future developments so that together we can challenge for the MotoGP world championship titles for years to come.”
Quartararo acknowledged that while his previous MotoGP deals first with Petronas Yamaha and then the works team were “no-brainers”, this one took longer to decide on.
“Yamaha believed in me from the very beginning, and that is something I do not take lightly,” he said.
“But that being said, this new agreement was a big decision. I’m at a great point in my career, so I took a bit more time taking this decision to be sure.
“I believe in the Yamaha MotoGP project, and I feel Yamaha are truly motivated. And now that we have officially confirmed our decision to continue on this path together, we can fully focus on the current season.”
The 2023 Yamaha factory line-up is therefore set to comprise Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli, although – despite the latter having long been under contract for next year – there have been murmurs over his contract security given his current low-key level of performance.
But Yamaha’s recent proclamations seemed to indicate Morbidelli’s place in the team is safe, and it wouldn’t have anywhere to demote him within the camp anyway – as its current satellite team RNF will join forces with Aprilia instead next year, with Yamaha publicly acknowledging at Mugello it will be down to just two bikes in 2023.
