MotoGP: Fabio Quartararo, the “little prince” who became king – franceinfo

He is only 22 years old and on Sunday 24 October became the first French MotoGP world champion. Fabio Quartararo marks the history of French sport but also his history with motorcycles, which started at just four years old, at the age when others were learning to ride a bicycle. Well surrounded, the young Niçois then experienced a meteoric rise to the supreme title. Portrait of the new world champion with his biographer, the motorcycle journalist, Michel Turco.

This is the story of a gifted young man, nicknamed “El Diablo” by its competitors in the young categories, but which is however not a devil on a daily basis: “Fabio is not an intellectual, but he is lovable, attentive to the people around him. He also knows that it is important to give to others in order to be supported. Even though he has a big ego, his team loves him because he is caring and benevolent with the people who work with him “, tells Michel Turco to franceinfo: sport. A rising star in his discipline and recent world champion, the young Frenchman keeps his feet on the ground: “He’s someone who loves what he does. He is aware of how lucky he is to have fulfilled his dream of becoming a motorcycle rider. Afterwards he lives like someone his age, who likes the clothes of rappers or footballers. He lives his life as a kid who plays sports “, confides the biographer.

A simple “kid”, but already so impressive on his racing car. Double Spanish champion in the youth categories, Fabio Quartararo quickly reached the international level, in 2015, at the age of fifteen, in Moto3. Four years later, he discovered the elite, which he dominated after three seasons: “Fabio is a prodigy in the sense that he has a fairly unique background. Normally, we climb the ranks gradually. He is the first European rider to be MotoGP world champion without having been titled in the lower categories since 1982”, reports the specialist journalist.

Like many prodigies before him, Fabio Quartararo was immersed in the sporting world from his early years. His father, Étienne, French champion in 125m3, is not for nothing in his son’s vocation for motorcycles: “His dad was a former rider, so as soon as the kid got to ride a bike, he bought him a little bike, to try it out. And the kid not only loved it, but he showed he had some pretty good skills. amazing in terms of balance. He felt that was his thing “, tells Michel Turco.

Very quickly, Fabio Quartararo showed a talent above the rest. But with a locksmith father and a hairdresser mother, the young driver does not come from a wealthy family, which can represent an obstacle in the world of motorsport. “His father saw that he loved it, it convinced him to make sacrifices. He also had a bunch of friends in Nice who helped him financially with tires, gasoline etc …“, explains the biographer. Every weekend, Etienne Quartararo therefore takes his son to Spain to participate in the local championship, since in France, there is no competition for those under fourteen.

Brilliant on the Iberian circuits, the Niçois also earns the nickname of “little prince” and has the chance to be spotted by a patron, who finances his seasons for three years and accommodates him. “He is very, very family, but was uprooted very early from his relatives, at 13. It also made him mature very quickly, and he learned Spanish in high school. He speaks it almost better than French”, laughs Michel Turco. Always well surrounded, Fabio Quartararo then worked with Éric Mahé, his manager and former driver, who knew the environment well and allowed him to reach the premier category. “Right away he performed very well, as if he had been made for that”, admires the journalist.

In his first MotoGP season in 2019, “El Diablo” climbed the podium seven times and also became the youngest rider to achieve a pole position. In 2020, in a calendar disrupted by the health crisis and with a less efficient motorcycle, he nevertheless signed his first success in the elite and made the Marseillaise resound in the premier category for the first time since 1999.

The third season is the consecration for the Niçois, promoted in the Yamaha factory team. “He ended up in an official team where the equipment is more efficient. He also worked on him, he likes to have responsibilities and there he feels that he is the standard of the brand. There are drivers for which is additional pressure, but Fabio likes to be valued, he thrives “, tells Michel Turco. A confidence that allows him to be crowned world champion two races from the end of the season.

More focused and more patient, the Frenchman left no chance for his competitors: “He controls his emotions better, but remains very sensitive. When he arrived on Sunday, he cried for half an hour. He is a very emotional person who has also learned to control his anger, he manages himself better on the road. human plan “, observes his biographer.

Very consistent, Fabio Quartararo nevertheless has room for improvement, especially in the rain, where he is more in difficulty. For that, “he always tries to progress by looking at what others are doing, by drawing inspiration from the greatest”, assures the specialist journalist. The greatest of his discipline, of course, but also the stars of other sports, of which he is passionate: “Lewis Hamilton is a source of inspiration for him. He loves football too, he had the opportunity to meet stars from Barca, Real, PSG. He is connected like all kids on social networks, and they talk with other athletes on Instagram “, he adds.

Already titled at 22 years old, that is to say two years later than Marc Marquez during his first coronation, could Fabio Quartararo dominate MotoGP for many years? “I think he has everything it takes to have the same career as Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez”, answers Michel Turco. According to him, the Frenchman has several points in common with his glorious predecessors: “Beyond talent, he has intelligence and a good entourage. He is someone who is anchored in his roots. He is in a cocoon of full confidence”.

Fan of Valentino Rossi since his childhood, Fabio Quartararo won his first coronation on the Italian driver’s circuit, in Misano. A symbol in the form of a transfer of power between “The Doctor”, seven-time world champion in the premier category, and the young Frenchman, while Rossi will bow out at the end of the season.