MotoGP: Fabio Quartararo extends until 2026 at Yamaha

Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, 2021 MotoGP world champion, has extended his contract with Yamaha by two seasons, until the end of 2026, the Japanese manufacturer informed Friday.

“This winter, Yamaha showed me that they have a new approach and a new, much more aggressive mindset. I am very confident: we will return to the summits together,” said the 24-year-old pilot in a press release.

The decision of Quartararo, who is competing in his sixth season in the premier motorcycling category, may come as a surprise as the Japanese manufacturer is left behind by its European competitors, and in particular Ducati, which has been crushing the discipline for two years.

The future of the Niçois, whose contract was coming to an end at the end of the year, had been fueling rumors in the paddock for several months. Coveted by many teams, the 2021 world champion chose continuity with Yamaha, which launched him into the deep end of MotoGP in 2019 despite insignificant results in Moto2.

After two seasons in the SRT satellite team in 2019 and 2020, including three victories, Quartararo joined the official team in 2021 and quickly enjoyed success. In his first season, he became the first Frenchman to win the title of MotoGP world champion after winning 5 of the 18 races contested that year.

Despite a good start to the 2022 season, he had to cede his title during the last race of the year to the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) due to an increasingly less efficient bike. The trend did not reverse in 2023, far from it, since the Frenchman finished 10th in the world championship standings after obtaining only three podiums during the season.

And the start of 2024 was very complicated for the Japanese manufacturer, which however changed its way of working by being less conservative than in the past to try to keep its No. 1 driver.