Jack Miller: Fabio Quartararo "did a scorching lap time already” on Yamaha V4

Jack Miller’s first full day on a Yamaha V4 ended with the Australian 20th on the timesheets, 1.491s from leader Raul Fernandez, at Tuesday's Valencia MotoGP test.

After an initial run on this year’s Inline bike, the Pramac rider got down to work refining the prototype machine.

Miller’s best time was set on his 49th of 51 laps, but he was especially impressed to see Fabio Quartararo clock a 1m 29.927s on the V4, just over half a second from Fernandez.

While most teams had to cram in as much work as possible after a delayed start, due to a slowly drying track, Yamaha and its four race riders are staying at Valencia on Wednesday for a private test.

“Decent first day on the V4,” began Miller. “Obviously, some work needs to be done, but we're in the right direction.

“Fabio did a scorching lap time already on that thing. We weren't too far away, but I've got some clear areas I need to work on in terms of my feedback and setup.

“Thankfully, we've got tomorrow to try and iron out some of the little details and test a few items just to gauge the direction that we need to go for the bike [spec] that we bring to Malaysia.

“It's a very new project, so today was all about understanding and making the bike your own.

“Tomorrow will be more about trying to understand cause and effect on the bike. We'll plug away at that. We've got some ideas to try out.”

Miller feels Quartararo’s lap time was especially impressive given the V4 is still running with a 'conservative' power output.

“We wouldn't go with [the V4] if we didn't think the potential was going to be bigger than [the Inline],” Miller said.

“Fabio being a bit over half a second off already is a promising sign, considering we're pretty steady at the minute with the engine. So that was a decent lap time.

“The electronics still need a lot of work,” he added. “We've got to play around with the same sort of stuff that I did this time last year when I hopped on the M1.

“Just progression, throttle and then the TC and stuff like that. The TC's not too bad. It's just the way it works. Getting the fuelling right, getting all those little things sorted so that the bike is running crisp, not spinning on the first touch and stuff like that.”

Test rider Augusto Fernandez, who took the V4 to 16th place on its third wild-card appearance in Sunday’s season finale, had mainly struggled with front-end feeling.

“It needs a considerable step in the front end, that's for certain,” Miller confirmed.

“Obviously, coming off the M1, which is a bike that's got a remarkable front end, you're always going to feel like you're taking a back step in that sort of department, but I think we've got a clear direction that we need to go.

“I understand Augusto's frustration and lack of confidence in said front end. There's some work that definitely needs to be done, but I believe once we've got a direction, which I think the boys do, that's going to be an easier solution.”

Meanwhile, Miller’s new team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu set the 18th fastest lap time (+1.294) in his first official MotoGP test.

“Really good,” Miller said of the reigning WorldSBK champion’s day. “I haven't had a chat with him yet. He was still talking with the engineers when I left, but it seems like he had a good day. 

"I'm interested to hear his feedback on the bike and obviously the tyres and etc. It'll be cool.”