The first day of testing in Mandalika divided the drivers: while Aleix Espargaró was unhappy with the dirty track, Fabio Quartararo was less worried about the conditions found. It took the reigning world champion around 30 laps to learn the track and get the tire performance, but then he completed a job that he found worthwhile. Fifth place in the times of day ranking was of little importance, since the time attack was not in the work schedule. In fact, he mainly dedicated himself to the evaluation of the parts tested in Sepang last week.
“I’m really happy because this morning the conditions were a bit motocross”, Quartararo told the official MotoGP website, before expressing his satisfaction with his long run performance: “In the afternoon I felt much better, we had a Great pace. I set my best time with a medium tire that had 16 laps. I’m very happy actually. We still have two days. We tested the aero package again, some settings at the rear. It worked well, so I’m quite happy , especially for our pace with used tires “.
Once in front of the reporters, Quartararo confirmed that there was nothing new on the Yamaha between the Sepang and Mandalika tests. He was therefore able to work to adapt the bike to a track that MotoGP is discovering this weekend: “We actually tried the same things as Sepang to confirm them here too. Today we did some aerodynamic tests, we only tested this aerodynamic package. We worked on the electronics because we have a lot of adjustments to make as we ride on a new track. At the beginning we couldn’t make any adjustments, but in the end we were able to work on it a little more. “
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: MotoGP
“We worked mainly on the engine brake and anti-wheelie because the power wasn’t bad, but the engine brake wasn’t good in the corners. The grip wasn’t bad, but we had too much of it. It was a bit difficult but in the end I feel we did a good job today. “
Quartararo wants to correct the “big mistakes” of Sepang
Long run performance looks good, and Fabio Quartararo believes it is important to focus on pace in qualifying over the last two days of testing. Faced with a formidable Ducati on Saturday afternoon, the reigning world champion complained that he had not yet been able to work on the flying lap since the Sepang test: “I haven’t been able to do any time attacks. For me, it’s something we have to work on, because I think we have a very good pace. But we lack some practice on new tires, because I feel it will be a very important thing for us this year. It will be used to make the time attacks and try to always be in the front row, at the worst in the second ”.
“The most important thing will be to work a little like we did in 2019, trying a time attack in every session,” added the Yamaha rider. “I think we made a big mistake not to mount the soft front in Malaysia. In my opinion it is very important to try as many time attacks as possible, without them preventing you from doing the job. We don’t have much to try, so for me the most important thing is to try to set fast times because it will be very important to still be on the front row during 2022 ”.
At Sepang, Fabio Quartararo complained about the lack of important news on his Yamaha, but this situation allows him to already have the direction to take with the M1. The Yamaha has maintained its strengths, such as its smoothness in the fast corners, which in Mandalika are many: “I have understood the bike for a long time already! From Sepang, I really understood where we are with the bike, and even today, as soon as there was enough grip. In the end I would say that I don’t need time to see the Yamaha situation. I know her and I know how the bike performed in the first tests. I know what worked in Malaysia, it should work here. On tracks where there are fast corners, it’s not bad. I think the fast corners are one of our strengths. If it didn’t work there, I think we would really have to worry! ”.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: MotoGP
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