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Quartararo swaps MotoGP bib for Valencia football jersey

While Quartararo showed off some skills of the non-moto variety, Arbolino too chipped in with his footballing skills.

Fabio Quartararo

Bengaluru, November 12: Newly-crowned world champion Fabio Quartararo swapped his MotoGP paddock gear for football jersey as he teamed up with Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino and headed out on pitch with La Liga club Valencia CF.

Ahead of the 2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship season-ending race at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, the duo went to Valencia's tranining ground.

For the records, Quartararo is the sixth-youngest rider to clinch a premier class world title, aged 22 years and 187 days old, behind John Surtees (22 years and 182 days old) and ahead of Rossi (22 years and 240 days old).

El Diablo story: Know more about new MotoGP champion Fabio QuartararoEl Diablo story: Know more about new MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo

In MotoGP, Quartararo is the third rider to clinch the title without having previously taken a title in one of the smaller classes along with Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner.

By taking the crown, Quartararo brought to an end a sequence of nine premier class titles from Spanish riders: six with Marc Marquez, two with Jorge Lorenzo and one with Joan Mir (the longest sequence for a country in the class).

With 20 premier class podiums so far, Quartararo is the French rider with most podiums in the class ahead of Christian Sarron (18 podiums).

With eight premier class wins so far, since his maiden premier class wins at the 2020 Spanish GP, Quartararo has almost tripled the number of French victories before him (one for Régis Laconi, plus Christian Sarron and Pierre Monneret).

And his footballing skills, thought it can't be compared with his speed on the track, is not that bad!

One for the album

One for the album

And wow! They actually had some impressive skills to go with it! While Quartararo showed off some skills of the non-moto variety, Arbolino too chipped in with his footballing skills. The duo then struck a happy pose with Valencia coach Jose Bordalas.

The 2021 FIM MotoGP season, will conclude at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia on Sunday (November 14).

Quartararo praises Rossi

Quartararo praises Rossi

The season-ending race will also bring down curtains to the illustrious Grand Prix racing career of MotoGP great Valentino Rossi and Quartararo paid rich tributes to the Italian, "To be honest it's tough to see, because many people...with the results he's having he must retire. But I think now all the people that want him to leave now want him to stay. It's sad, he's the legend of the sport."

"He really brings something special. He's the one who really inspired me as a child, watching him, his celebrations, how he won, his personality, for me, Valentino is the idol of many of us. Yeah, I think everyone needs to congratulate him on his career."

Good credentials

Good credentials

In the current MotoGP era, Quartararo is the third-youngest champion behind Marquez (20 years and 266 days old) and Casey Stoner (21 years and 342 days old).

In addition, Quartararo became the youngest Yamaha rider to clinch the premier class world title, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, who was 23 years and 159 days old when he took the title in Malaysia back in 2010.

New challenge

New challenge

Quartararo was just four, when his father Etienne - himself a former French 125cc champion - gave him a Yamaha PW50.

It is a familiar story for future MotoGP riders, and although Quartararo's rise would prove stratospheric, there were definitely a few challenges and difficult seasons along the way.

Story first published: Friday, November 12, 2021, 14:07 [IST]
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