MotoGP title leader Fabio Quartararo rates his ♑early 2021 victories in Qatar and Portimao as the stand-out moment of the season so far, for different reasons.

The Losail win, in the second of the back-to-back season-openers, was his first as a Factory Yamaha rider after replacing nine-time world champiౠon Valentino Rossi at the start of the year.

"To be⭕ honest in the beginning of the year I had, not pressure from the team, but more pressure from the outside," Quartararo said. "Even if I tried not to hear it, you are having the place of the king, of Vale, and you always ꦉhave this kind of small pressure.

"Even comments from some of the media like, '꧃You need to do well, you have an important spot with the team♒'. I was like, stop with it. I was so happy with the victory in Qatar because since that moment I didn’t hear that rumour anymore."

Quartararo's second big win came next time out in Portima🌞o, a circuit where he had finished in just 14th place on his Petronas Yamaha f🧸arewell last November.

"When I won in Portimao, it was something🐟 that was really important for my mind because 2020 was a disaster and this year it was amazing," Quartararo said.

"So it was a clear moment in my mind from the beginninꦐg of the season. I expected to do a good🉐 start, but not as good as this one."

Quartararo heads into the summer break having added two further victories, at Mugello and Assen, and holding a confident 34-point lead over nearest rival Johann Zarco (Pramac Du🍎cati).

That includes podiums in six of the nine rounds, but it could easil✃y have been eight of nine without the arm pump𒉰 problem at Jerez and 'wardrobe malfunction' in Catalunya.

But Quartararo insists that the 2021 MotoGP title is certainly not💫 'his to loseꦅ'.

"I’m in a really good moment in my𝔍 career. I have the extra confidence that every time I’m on the bike I feel better," said the young Frenchman. "I’m just feeling super good and super confident. It means that I’m fast and I want to keep this mood until the last race of the season.

"But the championship is wide open. For me, everyone is fast so I 🌸don't wan𒈔t to make a mistake.

"I don’t really see clearly one [person as a rival]. Joan is super fast. The Ducatis are super fast… But the most important thing right noꦛw is I want to focus on my🦋self and try to take the best out of myself in every race.

"Even if one guy finishes in frꦏont of me, two guys, three guys, I will know that I gave my maximum. I think this is the best way.

"Of course, we have a good adꩲvantage in the championship, but we need to at least start the second part of the season exactly as we started the first race in Qatar. "

Quartararo's race-by🐼-race approach is especially wise since it's still not clear exactly how many races are remaining in the 2021 season.

Ten rounds remain officially listed, plus Argentina (still currently postponed rather than joining Finland an✨d Japan on the cancelled list) but few expect all of those events to take place.

Could Morbidelli join Quartararo in 2022?

Qu🍌artararo's team-mate Maverick Vinales is the only othe꧑r Yamaha rider to win a race so far this year, in the Qatar opener.

However the Spaniard - sixth in the championship after finally returning to the r🌠ostrum in Assen, but now 61 points behind Quartararo - has asked to be released from his contract at the end of this year.

Quartararo's former team-mate Franco Morbidelli is the obvious candidate to 𓂃take Vinales' Factory Yamaha place, but the Sepang Racing Team (which has some form of contract/option with the Italian for next year) insists it's just speculation and not something that has been seriously discussed at this stage.

The Malaysian team is currently working on renewing deals with title-sponsor Petronas and Yamaha for 2022, wh꧙en it might yet need two new riders should Valentino Rossi depart.

Meanwhile, Turkish star Toprak Razgatlioglu, another name linked with a Yamaha MotoGP seat next season, now looks 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:set to stay in WorldSBK for another two year💮s.