SRT Petronas Yamaha MotoGP rider Fabio Quartararo said that a gamble to use a soft front tyre on his second run in qualifying cost the Frenchman a shot at pole position, with Quartararo having to settle for third place in Misano.

The Frenchman came into qualifying favourite for the pole position and after the first qualifying runs he found himself at the front of the pack. However, when coming back out for his second run, Quartararo decided to fit a soft front tyre to the front of his YZR-M1 rather than a medium.

Quartararo struggled, towing Pol Espargaro around before seeing first the Spaniard and then Maverick Vinales post faster lap times, leaving the Yamaha man to start on the outside of the front row.

Admitting it was a gamble that didn’t pay off, Quartararo said that he didn’t feel great in the afternoon, which will undoubtedly be in his mind with the race obviously in the afternoon.

“In the morning we felt really good, because we had a really clear idea about the front tyre,” said the 20-year-old.

“This afternoon normally the plan is to make the two-time attacks with the medium front, then at the end I made the decision to move on the soft. This was not the best decision, was way too soft to stop the bike and I had many movements on the front.

“So like yesterday, in the afternoon I didn’t feel really great and this afternoon was more or less the same situation, but the goal was to be on the front row, and we reach our goal. I’m really happy about how it goes today and our pace with soft tyres and medium.”

Quartararo admitted that he has been struggling with the front end of his bike for a lot of the weekend, however, he is acutely aware that any changes made in the morning warm up may not have the same impact in the afternoon when temperatures rise.

“We will try something that we try in the test that is really positive,” he said.

“We know that the conditions of the warmup will be much more cooler than the race, but we can still try something and decide which exactly we will use.”