Marco Bezzecchi
Neil Hodgson believes Fabio Quartararo will be the most disappointing rider on the MotoGP grid this season. Quartararo is expected to leave Yamaha at the end of the season.
El Diablo won the championship at Yamaha in 2021 and has been riding their bikes ever since he broke into MotoGP in 2019. But with his victory drought stretching back to the summer of 2022, Quartararo has lost patience with the project.
Even before riding the 2026 spec of the Yamaha V4, Quartararo agreed to join Honda in 2027. And that has left Hodgson concerned about his immediate prospects.
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The Frenchman was by far Yamaha’s best rider last season, dragging the slowest bike on the grid to ninth in the standings. He notched five pole positions – only world champion Marc Marquez bettered that tally – and he single-handedly outscored the other three M1 competitors.
Neil Hodgson concerned about Fabio Quartararo in final year at Yamaha
Asked to pick the biggest underachiever of the year on the Gas it Out podcast, Hodgson went with Quartararo. It will be a ‘long year’ before the impending divorce.
Quartararo made angry gestures at his Yamaha bike on the first day of the Buriram test on Saturday, which underlines the extent of his frustration.
“I’m going to say, as much as I like him, Fabio Quartararo,” said Hodgson. “He looks like he’s moving to Honda. It looks like that’s a done deal.
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“He’s going to turn his back on the V4 project. It’ll be a long year, there are 44 races. He’s going to disappoint.”
Hodgson’s colleague Sylvain Guintoli agreed, suggesting that Quartararo’s commitment to success may wane if he knows he’s leaving. Yamaha look to be cut adrift at the back of the pack after changing engines; they publicly acknowledge that they will need time.
“The first thing that pops to mind is the Yamaha V4 and the riders that are on that bike,” Guintoli said. “I do think they are going to struggle.
“I agree with Neil, there’s a psychological effect. If the bike doesn’t perform, which it won’t straightaway – and it looks like they’re very much on the back foot already – you’ll have riders like Fabio Quartararo that maybe won’t go to the extremes that they have in the past, to go that extra length.”
‘It’s not logical to pay a rider millions when he’s leaving’, MotoGP team boss says
Quartararo isn’t the only rider who seems set on leaving his current team before the season has even started. Pedro Acosta (Ducati), Jorge Martin (Yamaha) and Alex Marquez (KTM) are all making early moves too.
Speaking to El Periodico, one anonymous team boss questioned why they should be paying ‘millions’ for riders who are about to switch allegiances.
“It doesn’t seem very sensible or logical, although it has happened in the past, to be paying a driver millions of euros who, next year, will be racing with another brand,” they said.
Some feel that MotoGP should have a transfer window midway through the year, like football, but it’s difficult to see how this would work in practice. Riders would most likely circumvent by reaching informal agreements.
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