Yamaha has begun the Malaysian MotoGP weekend on the right foot, surprising even Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman set the seventh fastest time in free practice and consistently ran inside the top ten without any of the struggles of the previous rounds, his M1 showing unexpected speed.
Fabio Quartararo surprised by the Yamaha
“I’m really pleased with today”, the 2021 world champion tells Sky Sport. “Sure, we need to take a small step with the braking and try to shave off a few tenths for the race but overall the bike’s given me great feeling”.
The M1 appears at ease around the resurfaced Sepang track, as demonstrated also by Franco Morbidelli, in eleventh place, but El Diablo is unable to explain this progress: “I don’t know why we’re so competitive, we expected to struggle more. We were also quick in India without really knowing why”, continues the Frenchman. “All I know is that the feeling is good and I’m only one or two tenths from the day’s virtual podium. I’m happy.”
Quartararo and the gesture to Morbidelli
Quartararo also found himself gesturing at team-mate Morbidelli in the final stages of FP2: “Franco was on the racing line through the fastest turn of the track and so I was a bit annoyed. These things can happen, what counts is that we’re through to Q2“.
A partial but fairly important result for Quarta, in that rain is forecast at Sepang over the weekend and so getting directly into Q2 on Friday means that #20 won’t have to tackle Q1.