‘To be best you have to beat the best…’
While the 2020 season will go down in the history books for its brilliant racing, high drama and unpredictability, it will also be remembered for the spectacular disruption caused by Covid and the absence of world champion Marc Marquez.
While no one wants to take anything away from Joan Mir and co, the season would have almost certainly had a different flavour had Marquez not been injured at round one. “Marquez is the one who pushes you to surpass yourself,” explained Quartararo. “He’s also the reason I had a great season in 2019. Even if it seems impossible for him to come back in time for the first race this season, I hope he will be back with us very soon.”
But as the 2020 season showed, it’s not just Marquez that he has to worry about. There were an incredible nine different race winners last year, including five first time victors. Plus other manufacturers coming to the fore with KTM winning for the first time, Suzuki securing two wins while Honda failed to win a race for the first time in 39 years. So who does Quartararo see as his biggest rival in 2021? “I honestly have no idea! We saw last year that there was no real hierarchy anymore. The new Michelin tyre has completely redistributed the cards, the manufacturers who were behind have improved and there were a lot of different winners. In Brno, on a circuit where you lap in two minutes, there were eight of us in three tenths! It’s just unbelievable. For me, any of last year’s top 10 can fight for the championship this season.”