Natalie Quirk reveals Fabio Quartararo had ‘lovely words’ for scoreless MotoGP rider at Argentina Grand Prix

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Fabio Quartararo is one of the most respected riders on the MotoGP grid. He may not have a winning motorcycle right now, but he’s established himself among the elite.

Quartararo remains the last non-Ducati champion in the premier class. In 2021, he beat Francesco Bagnaia to win the title with two races to spare.

Ducati won both the teams’ championship and the constructors’ trophies that year, which makes El Diablo’s achievement all the more impressive. He’s built a reputation as a rider who extracts the absolute maximum from his bike, often leaving his teammates bemused.

Quartararo did blow a large lead in 2022 as Bagnaia exacted his revenge. Among current riders, it’s only the factory Ducati duo who can better his haul of 11 premier-class wins.

The Frenchman was crowned Rookie of the Year in 2019, just two seasons before he won the championship. He’s now taken a keen interest in one of this year’s newcomers.

Fabio Quartararo privately praised Somkiat Chantra at Argentina Grand Prix

Prior to the Sprint race at the Argentina Grand Prix, Natalie Quirk, TNT Sports reporter, spoke to LCR Honda boss Lucio Cecchinello about Somkiat Chantra. He forms a third of this year’s rookie class alongside Ai Ogura and Fermin Aldeguer.

Ogura was the world champion in Moto2, and Aldeguer has drawn Marc Marquez comparisons after impressing the intermediate class too. Chantra is the outlier among the three, having finished mid-table last season.

The consensus is that Chantra is at least partly on the grid for commercial reasons. He qualified second from last in Thailand and finished the Grand Prix in 18th.

The 25-year-old crashed during qualifying in Termas de Rio Hondo but did marginally improve from round one as he took P17. According to Quirk, Quartararo has privately offered him some sincere encouragement.

She said: “We’ve got Somkiat behind you. I believe Fabio Quartararo had some lovely words for him yesterday. It must give him a real boost.”

Cecchinello replied: “Yes, definitely. We are very pleased about his riding process. Today he had his second crash ever in MotoGP. It’s good because he learns but always in the right way. We are quite pleased with his progress.”

Neil Hodgson suspects Honda policy is hurting Somkiat Chantra at LCR

Ogura stole the show among the rookies in Buriram as he finished fifth, the best result for a debutant since Marquez in 2013. But Neil Hodgson feels Chantra was at a disadvantage.

He believes the other three riders in the Honda stable were riding significantly more advanced bikes in Thailand. Perhaps this shows that the Japanese manufacturer view Chantra as a long-term project.

Honda set a LCR a ‘big challenge’, Cecchinello admitted in the winter, by selecting him as the replacement for Takaaki Nakagami. They believe he has the talent but needs to refine his riding.

Meanwhile, Aldeguer has made an underwhelming start at Gresini. While teammate Alex Marquez competed for Sprint victory on the GP24, he was tangling with Miguel Oliviera towards the foot of the field.

Even Ogura sank to 15th place on Saturday, a reality check of sorts but also the kind of result that’s to be expected during the adaptation phase.