Fabio Quartararo has knocked down the door that was not opened to Johann Zarco to fight for the MotoGP world championship

It has been the big week for Yamaha, with huge news around the Iwata brand happening one after another. But if there is something that stands out above the rest, that has been the promotion of Fabio Quartararo to the official team, which is neither more nor less than the goodbye of an institution like Valentino Rossi.

That was the trick, breaking down the door instead of waiting for it to be opened for you. What Johann Zarco could not do, Quartararo has achieved in just one season. And it is that his irruption in MotoGP has been such that not even the stripes of a whole Valentino Rossi have been able to stop the push of this French devil.

2020, the year of preparation for the battle of Quartararo

The first season has been dazzling. There is a great memory of what his compatriot Zarco did in his MotoGP debut with Tech3, also Yamaha's satellite team at the time, but it is nothing compared to Quartararo's debut. 'El Diablo' in just one season has made more pole positions and more podiums than Zarco in his two years at Tech3.

Seven podiums for Quartararo for six that Zarco made between 2017 and 2018 (three per seasons), six poles for 'El Diablo' for four for his compatriot in two years. Plus, Quartararo has finished in the top five of the general, something that Zarco never did. The difference between waiting to be opened and breaking down the door.

If to that we add that Quartararo is 20 years old, against the 28 that Zarco had when he left Tech3, and that Rossi has definitely come face to face with reality in 2019 … Well, the result is that the stage has been perfectly prepared so that Quartararo can perform his role as of 2021.

But do not trust the Frenchman, because he will face the actor who gives the best replicas in the world, Marc Márquez. An interpretive duel for which Quartararo would do well to prepare now. The requirement will be maximum in 2021, especially if you have two riders who know something about motorcycles, like Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, getting the M1 ready for him.

Quartararo is called to be the anti-Marquez as before were so many others, including Maverick Viñales, who will not give him any facility internally either. And is that the so-called Yamaha Dream Team is not so much. Yes, there are names that are scary, but none that in 2020 will be able to gather speed and track records.

At the moment Yamaha has two very fast young riders but with a lot of consistency and guts to show, and two veterans who have already shown it all but have lost their speed. If in Iwata they manage to generate a virtuous circle instead of a vicious one, Marc Márquez will have to worry about.

Returning to Quartararo, his 2020 season will be more important than it appears. And he would do well to keep it in mind. First because will run with fully official Yamaha material and support, with all that that means. And second, because the best prepared must arrive in 2021, which will be his first battle for the title.

'El Diablo' needs more regularity, to be consistently in the battle for the podium and, above all, to get the longed-for first victory. Reaching 2021 having already beaten Márquez, even if only once, would be a giant step. In 2019, despite the extraordinary campaign of Quartararo, only finished ahead of Márquez in one race, that of Austin, when the champion fell. The points will be played in 2021, but the mental war has already started.