Fabio Quartararo: The 15-year-old Frenchman tipped to be MotoGP’s next megastar

IN just a few years, Fabio Quartararo could well destroy Marc Marquez’s place in the record books. Meet MotoGP’s 15-year-old sensation.

Will Dale

8 min read

April 17, 2015 - 1:19PM

02 GP Austin Moto3 9 a 12 de abril de 2015; Moto3; m3; moto3

FOR some, the major storyline heading into the new MotoGP season was not to do with Marc Marquez or Valentino Rossi, but of the 15-year-old who is being tipped to become greater than them both.

Fabio Quartararo is the most hyped rookie to arrive in the world championship in ... well, ever.

Many expect him to win the world championship first time out. The sport even changed the rules so he could compete.

Neither Rossi nor Marquez, nor any other rider in the sport’s history has carried such vast expectations on their shoulders heading into their debut season of the championship’s junior Moto3 class.

Two races in, and he is starting to live up to the hype.

So why are so many touting him for greatness?

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Fabio Quartararo.

WHERE DID HE COME FROM?

The son of a French motorcycle racer of the eighties, Quartararo was born in Nice on April 20, 1999.

Like so many of the sport’s other greats, he showed a love and an aptitude for riding two-wheel machines at a young age. The training wheels came off his bicycle at two and a half.

“He got his first motorbike at four years old,” mother Martine told Europe1, and it wasn’t long before his Yamaha Peewee 50 was cutting laps in competition.

“When he finished second he was not happy,” she said, adding with pride that, “he has always been ambitious.”

By the time he turned seven, he and his family moved to Spain so he could sharpen his skills in the best and toughest junior racing series on the planet.

KING OF THE KIDS

The Spanish racing system is akin to a production line of MotoGP geniuses. It is responsible for riders the caliber of Casey Stoner, the Marquez brothers, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo, Jack Miller ... the list goes on. Almost every rider across MotoGP’s three classes has raced in Spain as part of their development.

The crown jewel of the system is the CEV, a championship whose Moto3 division has earnt the title of FIM Junior World Championship for 2015 because that is essentially what it has become. All the best and brightest head there to prove that they are the next big thing.

Quartararo arrived in the class in 2013 at age 14 carrying a string of title aboard 50cc and 80cc classes like so many of the other kids he was racing.

By the end of the year he was its champion.

His title was built on an impressive final-week charge which saw him sweep all three of the final races to snatch victory. Winning that title as a rookie is unheard of, and he soon had the big factories feeder teams vying for his services. Honda won the race, and Quartararo defended his title in dominant fashion riding for the Monlau Tehcnical School squad that brought Marquez to prominence.

He graduated with them to the world championship this year, taking over the bike Alex Marquez rode to last year’s title.

But first, he had to be ruled eligible to compete.

Quartararo in his debut CEV race, where he finished second.

‘THE QUARTARARO RULE’

In 2009, faced with younger and younger riders being promoted to race at world championship level, Dorna drew a line in the sand. They raised the minimum rider age from 15 to 16.

When Quartararo took his first CEV title, age 14, there was no question that he was way too young to progress to the world championship the following year.

Following another year in the CEV and another title win, it was clear that Quartararo was more than ready to make the step up for 2015.

But his birthday posed a problem: he would not turn 16 until the day after the Argentinian race. Ordinarily, he would have to miss the opening three races of the season, and losing any chance of winning the world championship on debut.

Enter, what has been cheekily termed by some as, the ‘Quartararo Rule’.

The Grand Prix Commission announced in August last year that they had created an exemption to the age rule. Any winner of the CEV Moto3 title would be eligible to step up to the world championship the following season regardless of age.

The official press release even had the front to say: “An obvious example of a possible beneficiary of this regulation change is Fabio Quartararo.”

Any traces of doubt that Dorna made the right decision in bending the rules evaporated as soon as winter testing got underway: Quartararo topped both opening tests at Valencia and Jerez, smashing the pole position record at the latter venue.

November 2014: Quartararo prepares to head out for his first test on his 2015 Moto3 bike.

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE

Despite his tender years, Quartararo is already being labelled as a very complete rider. He is sublimely fast, often riding with his front wheel teetering on the edge of grip.

So fast that Quartararo broke the lap records set by the world championship riders on some of the tracks both they and the CEV both visited last year.

He also responds well to pressure. One of the CEV rounds was at Le Mans last year on the bill for the French Grand Prix. Already hyped as France’s great hope for MotoGP glory, there was plenty of media attention on how he would fare.

He responded in the best way possible. He won the race by absolutely destroying his rivals, his winning margin counted in seconds rather than centimetres.

Those who have worked with him hail his work ethic and his capacity to learn, both excellent traits to have if you plan on being a future world champion.

He is also in no rush to get to the top, telling Moto Cuatro that he has no set timeline for an ascent to MotoGP.

“My only plan is to go step by step, at my own pace,” he said. “If not one year, it will be the other, I do not rush or think about doing weird things.”

Quartararo’s leading margin at Le Mans in 2014.

HOW IS HE GOING IN 2015?

Many believed he could win on his world championship debut in Qatar. That didn’t happen — he was beaten up by the cut and thrust of Moto3 at world level and he finished seventh.

But he learnt how to race with the big boys quickly.

Two weeks later in Austin he took his first podium finish. Danny Webb had checked out to a distant lead, but behind him it was Quartararo that won a frenetic scrap for best of the rest.

Against some of the biggest last-lap nutcases in the class, Quartararo moved decisively to the front of the group on the last lap and passed the chequered flag in second place.

With the 15-year-old still a long way from being able to legally drink alcohol in the US, he didn’t even get to spray champagne on the podium.

2015: Webb sprays Quartararo on the podium in Austin.

COMPARISONS

Quartararo’s podium finish at Austin makes him the sixth-youngest rider in the sport’s 66-year history to stand on a world championship podium across all classes.

Ahead of him on the list are Marquez and British rider Scott Redding, who earnt their first podium finishes at Donington Park in 2008. The latter did so standing on the top step; Redding’s win set the mark for the youngest race winner in grand prix history at 15 years, 170 days, a mark that Quartararo cannot beat.

However, it is still possible for Quartararo to take his first race win in fewer races than either man. Redding took his maiden win in his eighth start.

Here’s how long it took the sport’s current leading lights to take their first world championship race wins:

11 races — Valentino Rossi (1996 Czech Republic 125cc GP)
19 races — Alex Rins (2013 Austin Moto3 GP)
23 races — Dani Pedrosa (2002 Dutch 125cc GP)
26 races — Jorge Lorenzo (2003 Brazilian 125cc GP)
27 races — Alex Marquez (2013 Japanese Moto3 GP)
31 races — Casey Stoner (2003 Valencia 125cc GP)
33 races — Marc Marquez (2010 Italian 125cc GP)
34 races — Andrea Dovizioso (2004 South African 125cc GP)
37 races — Jack Miller (2014 Qatar Moto3 GP)

Quartararo has one more chance to win a Moto3 race at age 15. He turns 16 on Monday, one day after the Argentinian Grand Prix.

2013: Marquez and Pedrosa pose with Quartararo after his first CEV title win.

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

“A 15-year-old has no business coming into the highly competitive Moto3 class, breaking lap records and showing the regulars up. This could be one of the riders who moves the boundaries, and ups everybody’s game. He is the kid that everyone is tipping to beat Marc Márquez. We have at least four years to wait to see that contest, but it’s going to be great to see it when it happens.”
David Emmett — editor of MotoMatters.com

“We cannot compare Marquez and Quartararo. Yes, he made a good start to winter testing, but he knew the circuits of by heart. He needs to keep feet on the ground!”
Emilio Alzamora — Quartararo’s team manager, Marquez’s manager

“In places he is using a motocross technique. In Portimão ... he said he was doing a little scrub with the bike to get less wind pressure on the inside of this turn. His technique was to slide the bike with the front to reduce flight time and put the bike on the side. If you get it wrong you lose the front and instantly crash. It’s unbelievably technical at that speed with this kind of bike. For him everything happens in slow motion because it’s so close to disaster.”
Thomas Baujard, journalist with Moto Journal

“Quartararo will be undoubtedly one of the strongest riders in the World Championship in 2015. He has been outstanding in recent years in the Spanish championship, and now even in the winter tests he showed significant speed. But he’s riding in his first World Championship season. Therefore, it is really difficult to say whether he will have a title shot or not.”
Aki Ajo — rival Moto3 team owner, Jack Miller’s manager

Really enjoyed this encounter with @FabioQ20 http://t.co/ZiEJeSW2qc pic.twitter.com/PQ3Tp7NDeI
â€” Photo.GP (@PhotoGP) April 1, 2015

“I noticed that Fabio, standing ten or so feet away, had no ear plugs. I felt in my vest pocket and found one new pair of ear plugs. I moved over to Fabio, tapped his shoulder, and offered (them) to him. Fabio smiled again, mouthed ‘thank you’ in English, took the small package and went to work putting the foam pieces in his ears. Personality +1. A short time later we both turned away from the track to return to pit lane. As we did, he gave me another smile and, in the newly quiet environment, said again, ‘Thank you again for the ear plugs!’ I am a sucker for good manners. Personality +10.”
Scott Jones — MotoGP photographer, after taking the above photo

“With the young riders in my Academy we always make a bet at the beginning of the season and I put Quartararo already to win the championship last year. But I don’t expect that he arrives and makes the first position in the first two tests and I have to say this is quite impressive. Maybe he is the new Marc Marquez and Marquez has to be worried about Quartararo!”
Valentino Rossi

2013: Quartararo watches on as Marquez, recent MotoGP title winner, signs autographs for young riders.

THE STATS

Name: Fabio Quartararo
Born: 20/4/1999, Nice, France
Team: Estrella Galicia 0,0 / Monlau Technical School
Bike: Honda NSF250RW
Height: 175cm
Weight: 61kg
Nickname: “El Diablo”
Idol: Valentino Rossi
Favourite rider: Marc Marquez
2008 Spanish 50cc champion
2009 Spanish 70cc champion
2011 Spanish 80cc champion
2012 Spanish Pre-Moto3 champion
2013 FIM CEV Moto3 champion
2014 FIM CEV Moto3 champion