Quartararo pleased with top speed improvements from Yamaha

MotoGP Sepang Test Day One

At Sepang on Friday Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team‘s Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo were back aboard their YZR-M1s for the first time in 2023 for the official IRTA MotoGP test in Malaysia.

Eager to be back aboard his YZR-M1 again after the winter break, Quartararo went straight to work to start his 2023 campaign. He spent the morning stint getting back into the swing of things trying various tyre options. He moved on to cross off the items on his programme in the afternoon, evaluating the new updates. He rode 58 laps over the course of eight hours of high-temperature testing and set a best lap of 1‘59.422s to take 11th place, 0.952s from the top.

MotoGP Sepang Test Top Speeds — Fabio Quartararo

Fabio Quartararo

“It was a tough day, especially in the morning, because we used a few tyres that I didn‘t really like, especially the soft front. But we tried a lot of things today. Some were positive: especially the top speed improved. There are still many things to test, and we have two more days. Tomorrow we will use the tyres in a better way, and let‘s see what we can do. For the first day, it wasn‘t too bad. Tomorrow we will work more on aerodynamics, and I think it will be intense.”

MotoGP Sepang Test Day One Best Speeds

Bastianini – Ducati 336.4
Bezzecchi – Ducati 335.4
Martin – Ducati 335.4
Bagnaia – Ducati 334.3
Marini – Ducati 334.3
Quartararo – Yamaha 334.3
Zarco – Ducati 333.3
Vinales – Aprilia 333.3
Morbidelli – Yamaha 333.3
Marquez M – Honda 333.3
Espargaro A – Aprilia 332.3
Di Giannantonio – Ducati 332.3
Marquez A – Ducati 332.3
Fernandez R – Aprilia 331.2
Rins – Honda 331.2
Espargaro P – GASGAS 331.2
Oliveira – Aprilia 331.2
Binder – KTM 330.2
Mir – Honda 330.2
Miller – KTM 330.2
Nakagami – Honda 328.2
Fernandez A – GASGAS 326.2

Franco Morbidelli made the most of the dry conditions. He used the morning session to get back into a solid rhythm after three months of no MotoGP riding. He successfully completed his Day-1 testing plans in the afternoon and gave an extra push in the final hour. He ran 59 laps in total, securing 10th place with a 1‘59.118s, 0.648s from first.

Franco Morbidelli

“It was a busy day. Yamaha brought a lot of things to try, and this is positive. The team has begun the year with a great attitude: quite aggressive. They really are giving their maximum to step up our package, and I’m really pleased to see that. We have a lot of work to do and ahead of us, but if we keep going with this mindset, we can make it happen.”