Suffering from a penalty, Quartararo hands over the medal to Pedrosa

Fabio Quartararo handed the third place MotoGP sprint medal to Dani Pedrosa following an 8 second penalty.

AFP/JORGE GUERRERO

Yamaha racer, Fabio Quartararo, secured the third-place podium in the MotoGP Spanish sprint race held in Jerez on Saturday (27/4/2024). However, he had to forfeit the medal due to breaking the regulation on tire pressure and hand it over to Dani Pedrosa.

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, SATURDAY — Fabio Quartararo cancels his third podium finish in the MotoGP sprint race< /a> Spanish series, Saturday (27/4/2024), for violating minimum tire pressure rules. The Monster Energy Yamaha team racer also handed over the medal directly to the KTM test rider, Dani Pedrosa, who rose to third place. Quartararo, who received a penalty of 8 seconds, dropped to fifth place.

Quartararo was a big surprise in the wildest sprint at the Jerez-Angel Nieto Circuit as he managed to finish in third position from a 23rd starting position. However, he later received an 8-second penalty for violating the tire pressure rules. Each racer must adhere to the minimum tire pressure rules of at least 30% of the number of laps for sprints and 60% of the number of laps in races with more than 15 laps.

Quartararo directly handed over the third-place medal from the sprint to Pedrosa, who also performed impressively during the 12-lap race. This became Pedrosa's first podium after winning the Valencia series race in the 2017 season.

Also read: The Wildest Sprint Race in Jerez

During the medal ceremony, Quartararo and Pedrosa had a friendly conversation and there was no sign of disappointment from Quartararo. In fact, they exchanged helmets at the end of the session.

"It's a shame, friend," said Pedrosa while shaking hands with Quartararo in a video on the MotoGP website.

AFP/JAVIER SORIANO

Yamaha racer Fabio Quartararo was leading several other racers during the MotoGP sprint race in Jerez, Spain on Saturday (27/4/2024).

"Things like this sometimes happen," answered Quartararo with a smile.

"You ran a very good race," said Pedrosa.

"However, you are the one who made me run a race like that," replied Quartararo.

Also read: ”Pole Position” Ends Marc Marquez-Ducati Adaptation

"Yes, I was always behind you, but you braked very well," said Pedrosa.

"That's the only (advantage) I have," answered Quartararo.

AFP/PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU

KTM racer, Dani Pedrosa, revved his motorcycle during the first practice of the Spanish MotoGP series at the Jerez circuit in Jerez de la Frontera, on Friday (28/4/2023).

"I have the opportunity to pass you in two places. However, at the same time, I think if I enter and both of us widen, we will pass a wet part of the track and because of the rider's accident (due to passing a wet section), then I think, 'what's the point?' We have already achieved a lot of positions," explained Pedrosa.

Also read: Jorge Martin Achieves Success in Portuguese MotoGP

"However, in the last turn, I didn't know that we were in third and fourth positions, I thought we were in fifth and sixth, or sixth and seventh. Then I said to myself, 'come on, this is not a problem.' Then, when I returned to the garage, the team told me we were in fourth position and very close (to third position). And I said to myself, 'damn'," said Pedrosa.

Qurtararo responded by saying that both of them took advantage of the mistakes made by other racers who crashed due to passing through a wet part of the track. This condition allowed them to overtake many racers and be in the podium zone. However, Quartararo only found out that he was in third position in the last two laps.

"I have seen many accidents, and even more accidents, and I asked myself 'where am I in this position?'. Because after the start, I overtook many racers, and I saw P3, and I said to myself 'I need to close, I need to close!'," stated Quartararo about closing the gap on Pedrosa.

AFP/PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU

KTM racer, Dani Pedrosa, drove his motorcycle around the curve during the first practice of the Spanish MotoGP series at Jerez Circuit in Jerez de la Frontera on Friday (28/4/2023).

"In my case, there were Zarco and Morbidelli (behind me). So, I pushed you because they were approaching. If not, they would have been able to overtake me," explained Pedrosa.

"However, this is good, very good," answered Quartararo.

"Hey, sorry," replied Pedrosa.

"It's okay," answered Quartararo.

They later took a photo together and Quartararo invited to exchange helmets. Pedrosa agreed and will prepare a helmet to be exchanged. Quartararo then handed the medal to Pedrosa and they shook hands while smiling broadly.

"Thank you," said Pedrosa.

AFP/JAVIER SORIANO

Yamaha racer, Fabio Quartararo, drives his motorbike at the Jerez Circuit during the Spanish MotoGP sprint race, Saturday (27/4/2024).

"I am very happy for the team. They deserve this. We didn't perform well in practice or have a good feeling in the qualifying rounds, so starting from 16th position lowered our hopes of reaching the podium. We are very satisfied with the excellent finish today," said Pedrosa on KTM's official website.

Aside from Quartararo, other racers who received an eight-second penalty for violating the minimum tire pressure rule were Raul Fernandez, who dropped from sixth to twelfth position, then Fabio Di Giannantonio, Jack Miller, and Alex Rins. The positions of the last three racers did not change as the time difference with the racers behind them was more than 8 seconds, each in 13th, 14th, and 15th positions.

"The penalty is regrettable, but tomorrow (this Sunday) we can try again. Hopefully, we can make the same start, but realistically. If we can finish in the top ten, in my opinion, that would be a very good result," said Quartararo.

The main MotoGP race of the Spanish series will take place on Sunday (04/28/2024) starting at 7:00 PM WIB. This race will be a redemption for riders who fell during the sprint like Marc Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia, Brad Binder, Maverick Vinales, Marco Bezzecchi, Enea Bastianini, and Alex Marquez. The main race, which covers 25 laps, has the potential to offer a highly competitive competition.