Quartararo: We are fast but test order not true reflection

Fabio Quartararo says while topping both days of the Misano test is a nice boost for Petronas Yamaha he doesn’t expect the results to be the true order come the MotoGP race weekend in two weeks’ time.

The MotoGP rookie has produced another stunning late lap to head the test times with a 1m 31.639s, just 0.010s off Jorge Lorenzo’s pole position time for Ducati from 2018, to complete a clean sweep at the Misano test having topped the timesheet on the opening day in a Petronas Yamaha 1-2.

Having spent the test focusing on race setup and different settings ahead of the Misano MotoGP round, while factory Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales tried out the Iwata-based team’s new carbon fibre swingarm and 2020 engine, Quartararo feels confident he’ll instantly be up to speed in two weeks but warns against taking the test times too seriously given a number of riders opting against any qualifying-style laps.

“I think it isn’t so much like the race weekend as we will have a different kind of grip and we saw Marquez didn’t go out on new tyres so we didn’t know exactly what lap time he could do,” Quartararo said.

“But we did an amazing lap, we are quite fast on this track and feeling good, we have a good pace. So in the end it is really important but we arrive here with more than 150 laps before FP1 so I don’t need to learn the track and I can push from the first session.

“We tried some new settings on the bike which was really positive, some new casing for Michelin on the new tyres and today we didn’t make a lot of laps like yesterday but we found some good things for the GP. I am really looking forward to the race weekend as we did an amazing job here at the test.”

Quartararo’s Petronas Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli, who ended the final day of the Misano test in third place and 0.614s off, says he found smaller gains running a similar programme to his team-mate but was still content with his own progress.

“Today we managed to improve our performance. The conditions were pretty hot so it was more difficult than yesterday but we improved a little bit here and there, not too much, but I am happy overall,” Morbidelli said. “Now we are ready to rest and go into the race weekend.

“Testing is always particular and the grip is good in testing. “There are the factory riders that are trying many things so they don’t have the time to focus on setting or performance. We have much more time to focus on performance and detail on these things.”

MotoGP now takes a short break before returning to Misano for the San Marino round on 13-15 September.