Fabio Alain Quartararo (; born 20 April 1999), nicknamed El Diablo, is a French Grand Prix motorcycle rider racing in

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. Having won the 2021 MotoGP World Championship, he is the first French World Champion in the premier class' history. Prior to his Grand Prix career, Quartararo won six Spanish junior championship titles, including successive CEV Moto3 titles in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. Due to his successes at a young age, he has been tipped for "big things", even being compared to multiple time world champion

Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Alentà (born 17 February 1993) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who races for the Ducati Lenovo Team. He previously raced for the Ducati satellite team Gresini in 2024 and Honda's factory team from his MotoGP deb ...

, and set various age records during his progress up to World Championship level. He failed to meet the high expectations in the Moto3 and

Moto2 Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

World Championships, but made the move up to

with Petronas Yamaha SRT, and finished as rookie of the year in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

with seven podiums and 5th place in the overall standings. After collecting 3 victories in the compressed

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

season, Quartararo moved up to the Yamaha Factory Racing Team for

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

replacing Valentino Rossi, and won the championship in his first season collecting 5 victories and 10 podiums.

Biography

Of Italian origin, as he was born into a Sicilian family moved to France, he can be considered a son of art: his father, Étienne, competed in the 1986 French motorcycle Grand Prix in the 250 class. On 14 July 2022 he was awarded a knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Career

Early career

Born in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionReal Automóvil Club de Cataluña (RACC). He won championship titles in the series' 50cc class in 2008, the 70cc class in 2009, and the 80cc class in 2011. Prior to moving into the senior Moto3 series in Spain, Quartararo won the Mediterranean pre-Moto3 class in 2012, which was also denoted as the Spanish domestic championship.

CEV Repsol career

Moving into the Moto3 class of the CEV Repsol series in

, Quartararo joined Wild Wolf Racing – run by former Grand Prix racer Juan Borja – riding a

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

. Quartararo finished on the podium in his maiden race in the series, run in wet conditions, finishing second to Great Britain's Wayne Ryan at

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...

. Quartararo finished sixth in the second race at the circuit, and left tied for the championship lead with Dutch rider Bryan Schouten. Over the next four races, Quartararo recorded only one top-ten finish – from pole position at

Navarra Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

– and had dropped to eighth in the riders' championship standings, 37 points behind Spain's Marcos Ramírez. Quartararo finished the season strongly however, winning each of the final three races from pole position – his first series wins – defeating Ramírez by almost ten seconds in the final race at Jerez. As a result, Quartararo became the first non-Spanish rider since Stefan Bradl in 2007 to take the title, and at the age of , its youngest series champion, surpassing the previous record held by Aleix Espargaró. Fabio Quartaro FIM CEV Algarve 2014

Quartararo remained in the CEV Repsol championship for the 2014 season, as he was not old enough to graduate to the World Championship level. The rule, announced in and introduced in , stated that a rider must be 16 years of age to compete in a Grand Prix. Quartararo continued riding a Honda in the series, but moved to the Estrella Galicia 0,0 junior team run by Emilio Alzamora, the 125cc world champion. Quartararo finished the season as a clear champion, winning nine of the season's eleven races, and finishing second – to María Herrera at Jerez and Jorge Navarro at Albacete – in the other two. His eventual championship-winning margin was 127 points over Navarro, who joined him as his team-mate at the final round of the season in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. At that final round, Quartararo also beat World Championship competitors Alexis Masbou and

John McPhee John Angus McPhee (born March 8, 1931) is an American author. He is considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Nonfiction, and he won that award on the fourt ...

, with their SaxoPrint-RTG team making a one-off appearance in the championship. Quartararo's performances in the Spanish series were noted at World Championship level. In the race which supported the 2014 French Grand Prix at

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, Quartararo won by almost four seconds over nine laps, leading almost the entire race having started from second on the grid. In August 2014, the Grand Prix Commission – consisting of representatives from

Dorna Sports Dorna Sports, S.L. is the commercial rights' holder for the motorcycle, motorcycling sport of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix racing. Established in 1988 as an international sports management and marketing company, it is headquartered ...

, the

Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme The International Motorcycling Federation (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) or (FIM) is the global governing/sanctioning body of motorcycle racing. It represents 123 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six continent ...

(FIM), the International Road-Racing Teams Association (IRTA) and the Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers' Association (MSMA) – announced a change to the previously introduced age eligibility rules, allowing for the champion of the FIM CEV Moto3 championship (regardless of age) to compete in the succeeding season of the Moto3 World Championship.

Moto3 World Championship

Estrella Galicia 0,0 (2015)

Quartararo was announced to be joining the Moto3 World Championship in October 2014, with the publication of the championship's initial entry list. He remained with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 outfit, again riding a Honda, that he won that season's Spanish title with, and he was joined by Jorge Navarro, his closest rival in those championship standings. He tested the team's Moto3 motorcycle for the first time in post-season testing in Valencia, but his first lap times were not provided due to the fact that he tested without a transponder. During the first day of official pre-season tests at Valencia in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, Quartararo set the fastest time in the third session. At the following three-day test at Jerez, Quartararo was fastest in five of nine sessions, including a clean sweep on the final day. At his opening race weekend in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, Quartararo qualified on the second row of the grid in sixth position, just 0.123 seconds away from the pole-setting time recorded by countryman Alexis Masbou. In the race, Quartararo was ever-present in the lead group, and held the lead of the race with two laps to go, but contact with

Francesco Bagnaia Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia ( ; born 14 January 1997) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer competing in MotoGP World Championship, MotoGP for the Ducati Corse, Ducati Lenovo Team. He is the and List of 500cc/MotoGP World Riders' Champions, ...

saw both riders slip down the running order, with Quartararo ultimately finishing the race in seventh position. Such was the close nature of the racing that Quartararo was just 0.772 seconds behind the race winner, Masbou. At the following event in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, Quartararo achieved his first podium finish, with a second-place finish behind Danny Kent. He achieved his first pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix, a tenth of a second clear of Kent, but finished the race in fourth place. On home soil at

, Quartararo again took pole position, by just over a tenth of a second from team-mate Navarro. He led for a period during the race, but ultimately high-sided out of it from fourth position. Quartararo returned to the podium with a second-place finish at

Assen Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...

, having been part of the lead group for the entire race; he finished 0.066 seconds behind race winner Miguel Oliveira. In the next four races, Quartararo alternated retirements with finishes of eleventh at

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

and fourth at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

. At Misano, Quartararo crashed during the second free practice session, fracturing his right ankle – missing the race as a result of the injury. Quartararo also missed the following race in

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, where he was replaced by the team's CEV Moto3 rider Sena Yamada. Quartararo returned for the Japanese Grand Prix, but withdrew from the race after qualifying 29th on the grid, due to continued pain. Quartararo also pulled out of the Australian Grand Prix, after qualifying 19th on the grid. Quartararo ultimately finished the season in tenth place, with ninety-two points.

Leopard Racing (2016)

On 26 September 2015, it was announced that Quartararo would leave the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team to join Leopard Racing on a two-year contract from the 2016 season. Quartararo was considered as the title favorite for the season because of his performance in his rookie year and also because of the Leopard Racing team which won the previous year title with Danny Kent. But the season become a disastrous year for Quartararo. In the first three races Quartararo finished in thirteenth place followed by a crash in Spain. Quartararo finished sixth at his home race at

. Quartararo went pointless in six races and his best result being a fourth-place finish at Austria.

Moto2 World Championship

Pons Racing (2017)

Quartararo changed from Moto3 to Moto2 in 2017 to the Pons Racing as a teammate of Edgar Pons. On his debut, Quartararo finished 7th in

. His only better result of the season was 6th place in

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

. He finished the season with 64 points in 13th place of the championship.

Speed Up Racing (2018)

For 2018, Quartararo switched to the Speed Up Racing team. He achieved his first-ever Grand Prix victory in Catalunya. Despite success in the following race with a 2nd place in

, the remainder of his season was difficult, achieving no further podiums and finishing with 138 points in 10th place of the championship.

MotoGP World Championship

Petronas Yamaha SRT (2019–2020)

=2019

In August 2018, it was announced that Quartararo would join Franco Morbidelli at the newly created Yamaha satellite team, Petronas Yamaha SRT, in 2019. He would be intended to riding with a 2018-spec Yamaha. However, Yamaha gave him a factory-spec Yamaha - known as the "Spec-B". He qualified on pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. With this pole position he took the record for youngest ever polesitter in the MotoGP class, a record previously held by Marc Márquez since 2013. He also qualified on pole position in Catalunya (ultimately finishing the race in second place) and the following race in

, setting a new lap record and becoming the youngest rider with consecutive pole positions in MotoGP history. He finished third in Assen, behind Maverick Viñales and Marc Márquez. The next race at the Sachsenring, he qualified second, behind Marc Márquez. During the second lap of the race Quartararo slumped in the third corner while sitting on the inside with Danilo Petrucci. He ended up in the gravel. This crash was the first crash during a race in his rookie season in MotoGP. Quartararo achieved further podium finishes on the season with a third place in Austria and four second-place finishes in San Marino, Thailand, Japan, and Valencia. He started from pole position in Thailand, Malaysia, and Valencia. Quartararo ultimately finished the season in 5th place of the riders' standings with 192 points, 7 podiums, and 6 pole positions.

=2020

= At the first race of the delayed 2020 season in Jerez, Quartararo qualified on pole position and went on to take his maiden victory in the premier class after briefly dropping as low as 5th place on the opening lap. At the second round of the Jerez double-header Quartararo repeated the statistic by qualifying on pole and winning the race, this time leading from the outset and building a lead of over 8 seconds by the 20th lap before cruising to the finish by 4.5 seconds over Maverick Viñales. After difficulties in the subsequent five races, Quartararo saw his early championship advantage erode by the mid-point of the season. He achieved his third win at the Catalunya round to retake the championship lead. At the first Aragon round he suffered an injured hip after an FP3 highside crash but was cleared by medical staff to take part in qualifying, where he went on to take pole position. Lingering pain and struggles with the front tire in the track conditions caused him to drop quickly down the back, ultimately finishing in 18th place, his first non-retirement finish outside of the points in MotoGP since his first-ever race in Qatar.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (2021–)

= 2021

= After a rookie season in MotoGP, Yamaha Factory Racing announced on 29 January 2020 that Quartararo would replace Valentino Rossi beginning with the 2021 season and that he would receive factory-supported machinery for his remaining season at Petronas Yamaha SRT. Quartararo started the season at Losail with a fifth place and a win in two consecutive weekends. Two weeks later in Portimao he qualified for the pole position (after

's lap was invalidated) and led the race for the last 17 of 25 laps for his second win of the season. Quartararo would take Pole once again in Jerez, and was leading the race comfortably halfway through, when he started to suffer arm pump problems, and fell back the order, only finishing the race in 13th while Jack Miller took the win. After a successful surgery, Quartararo qualified in Pole Position in Le Mans, his third consecutive Pole, after a difficult practice session. During the race, due to unexpected weather changes and the rain starting to come down, Quartararo along with other riders switched bikes, however he was penalised with a long lap penalty when he pulled into Maverick Viñales garage instead of his own. Despite the penalty he managed to finish his home GP in 3rd, with fellow countryman Johann Zarco taking second and Jack Miller first. Quartararo would once again take pole position, a fourth consecutive time, at the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello, but the weekend was overshadowed by the passing of Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier, who died after an accident in pre-race qualifying. Quartararo won the race, achieving his third win of the season and dedicated both the pole and win to Dupasquier. In Catalunya, Quartararo once again took pole position for a fifth consecutive time, something which hasn't been done in the premier class since

did so in

. He finished in 3rd but was demoted to 4th after being given a 3-second penalty for taking a shortcut, and he was then given another 3 second penalty post-race, for riding with his leather suit open. The zipper was down and Quartararo removed his chest protector, breaching race rules requiring protective equipment to be worn correctly at all times, thus demoting Quartararo to 6th place. Quartararo further solidified his championship lead with a 3rd place at the

Sachsenring The Sachsenring () is a motorsport race track, racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyc ...

, a win at

, and a third place in Spielberg. Quartararo would win his fifth race of the season in

, and with two second-place finishes in

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

, and

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, he had a 52-point gap to

, with 3 races to go. Bagnaia would lead with 5 laps to go in Misano, but crashed out, ending his title fight, and confirming Quartararo won the title with 2 full races to go.

= 2022

At the start of the season, he struggled a lot with his bike, with a 9th-place finish at the opening round. He set the pole position time in Mandalika with 0.2 seconds ahead of Jorge Martín. That was the only pole position for the Frenchman in 2022. He won 3 races before the summer break, including Portugal, Catalan, and German Grands Prix. By the end of the season, he finished with 248 points, 8 podiums, and three DNFs. Quartararo finished in second place in the final standings behind Francesco Bagnaia, after a championship battle which saw the latter overcome a 91-point lead held by Quartararo after the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix () was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history: the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hockenheimring in B ...

= 2023

= On 2 June 2022, Quartararo signed a contract extension with the team for 2023 and 2024. He took his first podium of the season at the 2023 Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas. He took two more podiums for the rest of the season in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. He ended the season ahead of teammate Morbidelli, and 10th in the rider standings.

= 2024

= He start the season with an 11th place at the Qatar Grand Prix. In the following Grand Prix in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

he finished 9th in the sprint race and seven in the main race. In USA, he finished the main race at the 12th place. At the 2024 German GP, he end the race at the 11th position. During a season marked by Yamaha's consistent struggles, Quartararo ended the season in 13th.

= 2025

= On 5 April 2024, Quartararo signed a contract extension with the team for 2025 and 2026. Although the first 4 rounds of the championship were difficult for Quartararo, he bounced back at the Spanish Grand Prix with pole position and a 2nd placed finish, his first podium since the 2023 Indonesian GP. This was followed by another two successive pole positions at the French Grand Prix and British Grand Prix. However, Quartararo crashed out of the feature race at the French Grand Prix amidst wet weather, and did not finish the British Grand Prix due to a ride height device failure. Another DNF at Aragon marked 3 successive main race non-finishes, the first time that this occurred during Quartararo's premier class career.

Career statistics

Pre-Grand Prix career highlights

* 2007: 2nd, FCM Copa Catalana de Promovelocitat (Promo RACC) Spanish 50cc championship * 2008: 1st, FCM Copa Catalana de Promovelocitat (Promo RACC) Spanish 50cc championshi

* 2009: 1st, FCM Copa Catalana de Promovelocitat (Promo RACC) Spanish 70cc championshi

* 2010: 3rd, FCM Campeonato del Mediterraneo Velocidad (CMV) Mediterranean/N.Spanish 80cc championshi

* 2011: 1st, FCM/RACC Campeonat del Mediterrani de Velocitat (CMV) Mediterranean/N. Spanish 80cc championshi

* 2012: 1st, FCM/RACC Campeonat del Mediterrani de Velocitat (CMV) Mediterranean/N. Spanish Pre-Moto3 championshi

FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship

Races by year

( Template:Motorsport driver results legend, key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Races by year

( Template:Motorsport driver results legend, key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Season still in progress.

Personal life

Quartararo currently resides in

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

.10 things you may not have known about Fabio Quartararo
MotoGP Official Website, 24 October 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quartararo, Fabio French motorcycle racers 1999 births Living people Moto3 World Championship riders Sportspeople from Nice Moto2 World Championship riders Sepang Racing Team MotoGP riders French people of Sicilian descent French sportspeople of Italian descent MotoGP World Championship riders Yamaha Motor Racing MotoGP riders MotoGP World Riders' Champions Knights of the Legion of Honour