Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo enjoyed the first day of riding at the Chang International Circuit. He secured 8th place, earning him a spot in tomorrow‘s Thailand Grand Prix Q2 session. Franco Morbidelli was also challenging for a top-10 result but ended the afternoon session in 12th place, which puts him on the entry list for Q1.
Quartararo had closed FP1 in 12th position but was feeling quietly confident. In the hot afternoon, he soon featured in the top 4 in the Practice session, showing that he had done the work needed to be in contention for a Q2 spot. He made sure his bike‘s set-up was in good shape before the time attack commenced. He was holding seventh as the riders put in their final run with about six minutes left on the clock. The Frenchman saw that the competition was fierce and knew what he had to do. He went on to clock a 1‘30.074s on lap 25/26, which earned him eighth place, 0.248s from first.
Morbidelli had finished FP1 in fifth place and was determined to feature inside the top 10 again in the afternoon session. The sweltering sunny conditions were quite the opposite from the Australian GP, but the Italian felt comfortable and ready for the time attack. His first bid briefly earned him third place, but with the times dropping, he needed to give it another go and climbed back up from P10 to P7. As riders were starting their final run, he was in ninth and put in a brave effort but didn't improve. His fastest try, a 1‘30.217s set on lap 19/24, was not enough to keep him listed as one of the Q2 entrants. He ranked 12th in the classifications, 0.087s from the top 10 and 0.391s from today‘s best time.
The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back in action tomorrow for the Saturday MotoGP sessions: FP2 will be held from 10:10 - 10:40 GMT +7, followed by qualifying sessions from 10:50 - 11:30, and the Sprint that starts at 15:00.
