'Great lap time' - Fabio Quartararo tops first Official test of 2021

Monster Energy Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo ends the first official MotoGP test on top in his factory debut ahead of Ducati rider Jack Miller and Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro.

Robert Jones

07 Mar 2021

Fabio Quartararo, Qatar MotoGP test, 6 March 2021
© Gold and Goose

New Monster Energy Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo was the only rider to lap under the 1m 54s barrier as he secured top spot ahead of fellow factory debutant Jack Miller on the final day of the first MotoGP test in Qatar.

The surprise pacesetter on both day one and the closing hours of day two Aleix Espargaro looked to be heading towards a second consecutive day at the top, before Quartararo's last hour lap time.

Quartararo didn't enjoy the best return to track on Saturday as he finished outside the top ten and struggled readjusting to his M1, but the 21 year-old was much more comfortable from the beginning on day two.

Asked about his feelings today and trying out the new chassis package, Quartararo said: "Well yes, today the feeling was much better. It is still difficult to evaluate because we didn’t stay with the same package as yesterday.

"So it was not easy to make clear comments about the 2021 chassis. We also tried a new swing arm, but the feeling was not the best, so we need to try it better and in all conditions.

"In three days we will try it again but overall the feedback is good because we made a great lap time and the bike is great, but we need to see because last year with the 2020 bike we were also fast here.

"These two days were great in order to see the data and to analyse with the engineers for the best direction."

The 2019 rookie of the year won three races last season, including the double header to begin the championship in Jerez which was also his maiden win in MotoGP.

It is unlikely there will be big chassis changes with the 2021 M1, but Quartararo is hopeful it can give him the feel of the 2019 bike he had.

Quartararo added: "It is not yet the same feeling as the 2019 one, but we are working on it and the chassis of the 2019 bike was unbelievable.

"We are on the way and want to take that direction, because that was the best compromise. We are going in that way with it, but the feeling is not yet the same.

"We still have three days to improve our feeling and be as close to the 2019 feeling as we can."

Testing can give a good idea of possible favorites for the season ahead, but with each team having different testing programmes Quartararo is not reading much into the times.

Quartararo said: "I don’t think it is really indicative at all as we never focused on the pace. Every time I go out on track we try something new and I have a different bike."