Frenchman Fabio Quartararo has put the blame to his first of two crashes in Sunday afternoons San Marino Grand Prix down to the fact he could not overtake his Yamaha counterpart Maverick Viñales.

Quartararo started the 27 lap encounter from the front row, but a poor opening lap saw the former championship leader drop down to fifth behind Viñales.

It took Quartararo up until lap seven before the 21-year-old could pass the Spaniard at turn 14, but as he set off after Jack Miller, crashed out on lap eight at the tricky turn four.

Quartararo quickly rejoined before pulling off into the pitlane to check over his PETRONAS Yamaha M1. He quickly returned to the track but as the left side of his Michelin front tyre cooled, slid off for the second time at turn six.

The satellite rider takes full blame for the crash, simply stating he was “pushing too hard” to close down Miller after being stuck behind the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider and losing touch with the leading duo.

“I made a mistake: I was trying too hard to overtake Maverick [Viñales] and it overheated the tyre”, Quartararo started.

He continued to explain that after clearing Viñales, he pushed too hard to hunt down the Australian. “I made the move, and was the correct move to make, but Jack [Miller] was in front and I wanted to catch him as well but too quickly. I braked too late and lost the front end.”

Attention then turned to the nature of the crash. The Yamaha has arguably the bike to be on at the 2.63-mile Italian circuit, with Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi running strong in the Grand Prix, Morbidelli coming out as the eventual victor. Quartararo said “We are struggling to overtake with our bike, which is something we need to work on. Of course I am disappointed, as we had the speed to fight at the front, but we learn from the experience and I won’t make the same mistake next weekend”

He now has a day off before returning to the track for the official IRTA test on Tuesday, where he will hope to resolve the issues faced in the San Marino Grand Prix.

Speaking ahead of the next race, also in Misano, Quartararo finished: “We have seen five different winners in six races and it is one of the closest championships we’ve had, so I’m going to continue to give my best and try to make it ours.”

Featured image: Yamaha-Racing