MONTMELÓ: Fabio Quartararo approaches this weekend’s Catalonia MotoGP his mind now free to focus on the defence of his world title after ending speculation over his future.

The first Frenchman to be crowned MotoGP world champion announced on the eve of this ninth round of the season that he had nailed his fortunes to Yamaha for a further two years.

But when the news was announced on Thursday he conceded it was “a big decision” and one that he had taken time to arrive at, after chats with other manufacturers.

“As you can imagine, we were not talking only to Yamaha, and I took that much time because at one stage my head was going to one side,” he disclosed.

Assurances from his Japanese employers on improved engine performance and an upturn in results with a win in Portugal helped the 23-year-old decide to stay.

Quartararo finished second to Francesco Bagnaia in Italy last Sunday after setting off in sixth in a performance he described as “the best of my career”.

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That put the 2020 Catalunya winner eight points clear of Aleix Espargaro, who won in Argentina and made the podium in the next four races.

On home tarmac the Aprilia rider is hoping to make a dent in Quartararo’s slender advantage.

“We’ll see if we can’t find a little something extra and fight it out for victory” said Espargaro, who is part of a nine-strong battalion of Spaniards on the MotoGP grid.

But one of their number is noticeable by his absence in Barcelona, with six-time champion Marc Marquez in the United States to undergo surgery on his right arm.

This is the Honda rider’s fourth major operation on the arm fractured in a crash in 2020 and could rule him out of the remainder of the season.

Honda test rider Stefan Bradl steps in not for the first time to deputise.

Another of this weekend’s home contingent Joan Mir cut an unhappy figure after sliding off the Mugello circuit last time out as Suzuki’s challenging season continued.

Mir ended the 2020 season as world champion but after eight grand prix in 2022 Mir has mustered a mere 56 points and teammate Alex Rins not much better with 69.

A major part of the problem Mir said after Mugello was the constructor’s announcement to pull the plug on its MotoGP involvement at the end of the year.

“It’s clear that there isn’t the harmony in the team that there was before (Suzuki made public its decision to quit last month).

“We have to do something, because spending a year like this can be very long,” he added.