Fabio Quartararo gives verdict on new Yamaha V4 wing

Fabio Quartararo said he had “nothing special” for his Yamaha V4 despite finishing second fastest at Monday’s Catalunya post-race test.

The main item on the Frenchman’s agenda was evaluating a revised front wing that combined elements of Yamaha’s original 2026 design with last year’s older “tri-plane” specification.

Quartararo has reverted to the older wing, from the Inline machine, since the previous Jerez test, after struggling for front-end feeling in the early rounds.

“We tested a front wing and some settings. And that's it. Nothing really special, also some electronics,” said Quartararo.

The latest wing is: “More like the triplane one. So this is why I wanted to test it. But it was really, really similar [on track].”

The 2021 world champion was credited with the Yamaha V4’s best yet result of fifth following post-race penalties in Sunday’s restarted grand prix.

However, he played down the significance of finishing second behind pole qualifier Pedro Acosta (KTM) at the rain-shortened test.

“We’re just trying to improve our feeling with the bike,” Quartararo said.

“Try to have more consistency, because the grip of the track was amazing today. I did my best lap time without pushing like in qualifying and I also did two [1m38s] laps in a row.

“The run before was the first with the new wings. So when the track has a lot of grip, it's good, but also the top speed is weak. But it is what it is.”

Quartararo, ranked 14th through the speed trap at the test, confirmed that a long-awaited V4 engine upgrade is yet to materialise.

“No [new engine]. We used an old engine with a lot of mileage, you can see on the top speed.

"I think I took a big slipstream [for my best speed] today, but in general it was slow.”

Meanwhile, the lunchtime rain didn’t have much impact. “We tested everything we needed to test," he said.

Quartararo and Yamaha will face the fastest straight of the MotoGP season at Mugello next weekend.