Quartararo eager to try 2020 Yamaha

Quickest on day one, Fabio Quartararo signed off the Valencia MotoGP test with second on the timesheets, while trying some set-up changes to his Petronas Yamaha.

But the Frenchman's main focus is now getting his hands on the 2020 Yamaha, and particularly the new engine, which Maverick Vinales took to the fastest lap time on Wednesday.

While Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli got to try parts made available to the factory team at the end of this season, such as the carbon fibre swingarm, Vinales and Valentino Rossi were on track with a new engine and chassis.

"Today was more about riding than testing, making some new settings on the bike and trying some things with Ohlins. Nothing more," said Quartararo, who completed his stellar rookie season with a seventh podium on Sunday.

"It's quite clear that top speed is what we are missing. But it looks like the bike of Maverick, the 2020, is already one step faster so they are going in a really good way. So I'm looking forward to test this bike."

Quartararo hopes the new engine will be made available to the Sepang riders for the final test of the year, at Jerez next week.

"I hope, but I still have no idea when I will test it," he said.

Morbidelli, who also led the Wednesday timesheets on his way to third overall (+0.265s), added: “I’m happy with the test, because we’ve been able to be fast throughout both days; faster than we were at the race weekend and closer to the top guys.

"We’ve been trying some new items that have been good for us, just small things. Some of them I’ve really liked and some of them didn’t make a big difference, so it’ll be important now to try to understand the changes.

"Hopefully, we’ll be able to try the new engine in Jerez, because it’ll be very important to get feedback from it and to understand the strengths of it."