Portraits – Meeting Fabio Quartararo, Moto3 rider in 2015 – An extraordinary trajectory, enormous sacrifices

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Meet Fabio Quartararo, Moto3 rider in 2015

Portraits - Meeting Fabio Quartararo, Moto3 rider in 2015 - An extraordinary trajectory, enormous sacrifices

Trained at the excellent Spanish motorcycle school, Fabio Quartararo splashed his talent in the Grands Prix, playing at the forefront in his first Moto3 season. MNC met this sympathetic and ambitious 16-year-old pilot from Nice. Portrait and interview.

With an extraordinary trajectory, enormous sacrifices

Calm, precise and focused. Fabio Quartararo has only been 16 since April 20. Yet his demeanor during our interview and his answers to MNC questions exude an astonishing maturity, worthy of an experienced champion..

Even more surprising: the young Nice man remains calm in the face of his exceptional debut in the Moto3 Grands Prix, without showing excessive pride or false modesty. Certainly, "El Diablo" is delighted to have finished after having led his very first GP for a while, then to be mounted on his, before winning the (interview carried out just before his pole position and his).

But this meteoric trajectory does not turn his head or distract him from his triple objective: to win the title in Moto3, then in Moto2 and finally take the crown in MotoGP! In the manner of his idol Valentino Rossi, the only rider currently in competition to be titled in the three categories of the motorcycle Grand Prix.

Fabio owes this thoughtful and determined approach in large part to his career which began at a very young age and has already won several titles. Especially in the Spanish speed championship (CEV), the most challenging in Europe, where he chose to cut his teeth despite the inevitable break with his family and his roots….

Spain, track of champions

"To become the best, I had to be around the best in order to be pulled to the top. In France, the level was lower than in Spain, fewer pilots (7 against 50!) And especially the higher age limits were a brake. In Spain, it was possible to run in 50 cc from 7 years old, not in France", remembers Fabio, installed since the end of 2014 with his manager Edouardo Martin in Alicante (Spain).

Fabio seen by Lorenzo, Rossi and Marquez

  • Jorge Lorenzo : "I am all the more in awe of Fabio’s performance as it took a long time for me to find my bearings and get good results. In my first race in 125 cc, I had to finish within 20 (22nd exactly, during the Spanish GP 2002, Editor’s note) and my first pole didn’t come until much later (at the end of 2003 during the Malaysian GP, ​​Editor’s note) "

  • Valentino rossi : "His pole at Jerez is undoubtedly the first of a long series, because some results do not come by chance … From my point of view, Fabio is predestined to win"

  • Marc Marquez : "I have been following Fabio’s evolution since his beginnings in CEV (Spanish speed championship). His career is impressive and I think he is promised great things".

Under the leadership of this Spanish manager to whom he has deep respect – "with my parents, we felt that it would already be good if he achieved half of what he had promised. In the end, Edouardo made it double"-, Fabio follows an athlete’s training: drastic food monitoring (his weight is monitored to the nearest gram!), Between 1h30 and 7 hours of training per day (cycling, running and motocross, in particular), circuit analysis , the strengths and weaknesses of its competitors…

Nothing is left to chance, including his education which emphasizes learning English in order to be comfortable in front of the cameras (thanks to his background, he also speaks fluent Spanish). So many sacrifices necessary to hatch and develop a talent unanimously hailed by the most prestigious champions (see opposite).

In return, at only 16 years old, Fabio lives far from his parents and his friends … When MNC asks him if this separation is not too hard, his shell of "pro champion" cracks briefly and a real emotion arises. reads in his eyes: "a little, obviously…", breathes the young man whose busy schedule leaves little room for teenage leisure … and even less for a girlfriend !

Technical sheet Fabio Quartararo

  • Name: Quartararo

  • First name: Fabio

  • Date of birth: April 20, 1999

  • Place of birth: Nice (06)

  • Current residence: Alicante (southern Spain)

  • Family situation: single

  • Height: 175 cm

  • Weight: between 59 kg and 61 kg

  • First GP: Qatar 2015

  • First podium: Argentina 2015

  • First pole: Jerez 2015

  • First victory: to come, very soon !

A precocious talent

Fabio Quartararo reveals his natural penchant for two-wheelers very early on: amazed by his balance on a scooter, his entourage gave him a motorcycle at the age of 4 and entered him for a race. From the second start, it’s victory! The kid with the angelic smile reveals amazing skills. And above all, a fierce desire to win !

Quickly at the forefront in France (first Conti Cup title in 2006), the young Frenchman turned to the Spanish sector where he won brilliantly in 70 cc, 80 cc then 125 cc. In 2013, it is the consecration: he caps the crown in CEV Moto3, considered as the antechamber of the Grands Prix, and beats all the precocity records of Marc Marquez and others !

The following year, the n ° 20 (in reference to his day of birth) doubled the bet with nine wins and two second places in eleven races. His domination and his skills are such that the Grand Prix regulations are modified so that he can join the Moto3 world championship before the age of 16: now, the CEV champion enjoys a derogation allowing him to compete in GP at 15 !

Currently third in the provisional classification on his Honda Estrella Galicia – that of outgoing champion Alex Marquez -, "El Diablo" is on course to become one of our most brilliant representatives in Grand Prix. At the, he has already made history by becoming the second youngest driver to win a pole … just 32 days later than Marco Melandri, record holder since the 1998 German GP !

Interview by Alexandre BARDIN

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