The 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, staged in Jerez de la Frontera from 25 to 27 April, marks a crucial moment for the MotoGP season, but also an opportunity to celebrate the link between two generational talents: Fabio Quartararo and his idol, Valentino Rossi. The French, world champion 2021, has always declared that the “doctor” was his inspiration, and his path in Yamaha reflects the dream of emulating the deeds of the legendary Italian pilot. With Rossi who in 2025 intensifies his presence in the paddock as the mentor of the VR46 team, the story of Quartararo is intertwined with that of his myth, in a mix of admiration, competition and unbridled ambition.
Fabio Quartararo, nicknamed “El Diablo”, entered the history of MotoGP at the age of 22, winning the 2021 title with Yamaha, just like Rossi, who conquered four championships with the house of Iwata (2004, 2005, 2008, 2009). Their connection goes beyond the victories. Quartararo, born in Nice in 1999, grew up idolracting Rossi, as he revealed to Gpone.com: “Valentino was my childhood hero. I looked at his races and dreamed of being like him.” When in 2019 Yamaha offered Fabio the chance to debut in MotoGP with the Petronas SRT team, the young Frenchman took the opportunity, just like Rossi had done in 2000 passing to Yamaha after the years in Honda. The turning point came in 2021, when Quartararo took Rossi’s place in the official Yamaha team, a symbolic passage celebrated by the X fans with posts like that of @Crash_Motogp: “Fabio met his hero and then replied Rossi winning the title in the first year with Yamaha Factory.”
The 2025 season sees Quartararo in a reconstruction phase. After a 2024 marked by technical problems at the Yamaha M1 and surgery on the right arm for compartment syndrome, as reported by Paddock GP, Fabio is determined to return to the summit. The pre-installation tests in Sepang and Barcelona showed positive signals, with Quartararo who praised the progress of the M1: “We made steps forward, it is a good way to close the year,” he told Motorsport.com. In Jerez, a track where he triumphed in 2020, Fabio points to a podium, despite Ducati’s supremacy, led by Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia. His determination recalls that of Rossi, who even in difficult moments found a way to shine, as in the legendary overtaking on Lorenzo in Barcelona 2009.
Valentino Rossi, despite having hanging his helmet on the nail in 2021, remains an imposing presence. In 2025, as announced in Motorsport.com, he will reduce the commitments in the WEC to be closer to the VR46 team and his pilots, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli, who guide Ducati Factory and GP24. His influence extends to Quartararo, who in 2020, after a test at Paul Ricard, dreamed of moving to the Yamaha Motorhome of Post-Valencia Rossi. At Jerez, Rossi is expected in the paddock, and a video of @MotoGP on X showed the “doctor” advise of Giannantonio before the FP2 in Qatar, a gesture that underlines his role as mentor.
The Quartararo parable reflects that of Rossi not only for the talent, but for the ability to inspire. Fabio, like Rossi, is a symbol for young drivers. The French Motorcycling Federation, in 2021, called it “an ambassador who makes sport shine,” promoting speed schools for emerging talents. At 27, celebrated on April 20 with greetings on X from @Parcferme_fr, Quartararo boasts 11 wins and 31 podiums in MotoGP, but 2025 will be decisive to demonstrate that it can open a cycle of successes, as Rossi hoped in 2021: “Fabio can dominate, but must manage the pressure.”
In Jerez, with the race broadcast on Sky Sport and Tv8, Quartararo will run under the eyes of his idol, in a circuit that Rossi called “magical.” His challenge is clear: dreaming big, as the “doctor” taught him, and bring Yamaha back to the top. In a paddock where Rossi’s legacy is everywhere, Fabio is ready to write the next chapter of his story, with the heart of a fan and the determination of a champion.
