It was one of the most anticipated teams of the day of testing in Valencia, but apparently Yamaha has fallen short of expectations. The optimism that hovered in the garage after the Misano tests gave way to disappointment at the end of a test that did not bring the desired results. Fabio Quartararo leaves Valencia unhappy with what he has harvested and hopes that during the winter in Iwata we can find a solution to the problem that has been haunting him for the whole season.
The Frenchman completed 92 laps, the best of which in 1’30 ”578. So there was no shortage of things to do and in the bxo he worked hard to be able to take that step forward that El Diablo has always requested. However, Quartararo appears perplexed, from his ninth position in the time table: “There is something wrong. We did Misano, Barcelona, Cal raced at Motegi and Jerez, there was a clear improvement in the engine and then we came back. today and it’s exactly like last weekend. It’s incomprehensible because normally the engine has more power than the one in Barcelona and Misano and we end up with an engine exactly the same as in 2022 “.
“We had the Barcelona version and the Misano version, two versions that practically had the same horses, but with a different character. The engine I had practically all day was the new one and there was no improvement. Honestly, as soon as we accelerated … there is nothing compared to what we tried at Misano. This is why I find it really strange that Misano went much better. Here I did 327 km / h once, otherwise we were doing 324 km / h of top speed, but why don’t we have the speed we had in Misano and Barcelona, and the speed that Cal had in Motegi and Jerez? “.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marmorini’s engine therefore did not fully satisfy the Frenchman, despite being one of the most awaited news of this day of testing. Indeed, if he thinks about how much it made him smile at Misano, he feels a certain disappointment in noting that since September no progress has been made in terms of engine development. Quartararo is also disappointed when comparing what Crutchlow found in last month’s Jerez tests, in which he gained a lot in terms of power: “I can’t tell you how much he gained, but a lot. There was a big difference, yes. it was 1 or 2 km / h. Also, Jerez is a circuit where it is quite easy to see, because if you notice a big difference in Jerez on a 500m long straight, on a straight like this you have to clearly see better. one wonders what is happening ”.
Not just the engine, in the Yamaha garage today the work also focused on aerodynamics and chassis. We saw a new fairing with different wings that are very reminiscent of Ducati’s. However, the results were not what we had hoped for in this case too: “We did two runs this morning with the new frame, but I didn’t see an improvement. In the end we focused on the standard frame for aerodynamics. Let’s say we tried to make a bit of a copy of 2019 but it didn’t bring anything, unfortunately “.
The Valencia tests have also been archived, Fabio Quartararo puts behind him a 2022 in which he fought almost more with his Yamaha than with his rivals. Now he is enjoying a well-deserved rest before returning to work in view of 2023, in which he expects to find an improved M1 in the Sepang tests, scheduled for February: I’m going on vacation because I have to go on vacation. I’m not an engineer, what I have to do is get on the bike and do my best, which I have done all season and today. Mostly they go home not very happy and we’ll see next year ”.
First, however, the surgery on his injured finger in Sepang. The driver from Nice had announced that he had to undergo surgery to resolve the fracture of the third finger of his left hand, but he still doesn’t know when the operation will be: “I don’t know yet. I don’t know, but it’s getting worse, so we’ll have to operate ”.
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