Quartararo won't 'ride safer' after nasty British MotoGP crash

The championship leader suffered an off-throttle rear-end crash at the Vale left-hander in the opening stages of FP2 while he evaluating the hard rear tyre, which he says was "a total disaster" for the conditions.

He took a hefty whack from his Yamaha and hurt his ankle, initially needing help from a marshal to walk away.

However, Quartararo was soon able to rejoin the session and went on to dominate FP2, ending the day fastest of all by over half a second with a 1m59.317s lap.

"Yes, I twisted my ankle, sprained it," he said when asked by Autosport to explain his crash.

"But everything is fine, when I'm on the bike I have no pain and this is the most important thing.

"I was with the hard rear tyre, it was a total disaster for this condition, that I nearly crashed a few times before and Turn 8 was the corner I crashed.

"But, anyway I was feeling quite OK and it was good for us after the crash to make great laps on the medium tyres.

"I was feeling fast, I was not really on the limit and to be able to make like 2m00.1s was positive, so I'm feeling great."

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

When asked if he felt lucky that he never got thrown into the air in the incident, Quartararo added: "I think I lost the bike at the correct moment because if it had been a high-side, I would have been higher and [it would have been] more painful.

"So, it can always be worse. So, we are really lucky today, and it's not because I had this crash that I will ride more safe.

"I think everybody saw after the crash I just went for it and had zero corrections.

"So, it could have been worse, could have been better but really lucky to not have a serious injury."

Quartararo admits his decision to try the hard rear tyre in the cooler conditions was "a bit risky", but was keen to continue working in a "normal" way despite his championship situation.

"I will wish good luck to my foot before every session," he joked.

"But it's part of the game. I was not really on the limit because it was a mistake for us to try the hard tyre on those conditions.

"But for us it was not bad, and I think it was a bit risky. But that's what I wanted to do, I just want it to be like a normal weekend, try a little bit more to see the performance.

"But I feel like it will be normal tomorrow, a bit sore. But it's part of the game."