Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Viñales were keen to continue work on their race set-up for the Losail International Circuit today, adapting it to the hotter weather conditions. The teammates used the available track time to the fullest and finished in fourth and ninth place respectively in the combined free practice results.
Quartararo was eager to get back on the bike in the sunny FP1 session and soon featured inside the top 3. He then moved on to serious business, working on improving rear tyre live. He stayed focused on this goal throughout the 45-minute session. He set a 1'55.303s, that put him seventh in the timesheets, 0.524s from first.
The Frenchman followed the same strategy in FP2. He used most of the session to get the work done on his bike's set-up. With 13 minutes to go he was ready to put in his hot laps. He briefly moved up to provisional first place, but when the night-time session came to a close, the times dropped. The number-20 rider wrapped up the evening in fourth position with a best time of 1'53.583s, 0.438s from first in the FP2 and combined session timesheets.
Viñales continued the good momentum from last weekend in FP1. He worked on tweaking his bike‘s race set-up and gradually booked progress throughout the session. Feeling good aboard his YZR-M1 and showing a solid pace, even on tyres that weren't the most favourable, he finished in third place with a 1'54.864s lap, 0.085s from first.
Similar to last week, it's expected that on Saturday afternoon the weather conditions with higher temperatures and strong winds will make it difficult to improve, making the FP2 session crucial. The Spaniard knew he had to put his head down to make sure he remained inside the top 10. He soon took third in the rankings and showed a solid rhythm, but the majority of the rider field put in mini time attacks towards the end. Viñales responded by setting a 1'53.872s, putting him in ninth place in the FP2 and combined session results, 0.727s off the fastest time.
