PETRONAS Yamaha SRT Hard at Work in Penultimate Day of Pre-Season Test

11-03-2021

PETRONAS Yamaha SRT Hard at Work in Penultimate Day of Pre-Season Test

Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi end the fourth day of Qatar Test feeling great in second and eighth positions respectively.

PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team riders Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi made good progress at Losail International Circuit, in the penultimate day of pre-season MotoGP testing in Qatar, to end the session second and eighth.

Morbidelli once again started the day’s running at the top of the timesheets, concentrating on his first time attack runs of the resumed test. Showing good speed with the same set-up throughout his 62 laps, the final run of the session saw Morbidelli post the second fastest time – 1min 53.323secs – which was just 0.079secs shy of the top.

Rossi had a consistently strong day with good time attack runs, posting times within the top-five at both the beginning and end of the seven-hour session. The fourth day of the test saw him test a new front fender, front fork, rear shock settings and conclude final chassis comparisons. With a fastest time of 1min 53.993secs from the 52 laps completed, Rossi ended the penultimate day of testing eighth.

Morbidelli and Rossi will back out on track at 2pm local time (7pm MYT) for the final day of MotoGP pre-season testing, which will come to a close at 9pm local time (2am MYT).

Franco Morbidelli

"I feel ready for the first round of the season; there’s always room to improve the pace and things that could be better, but I feel ready. We’ve tested a lot and have been trying to adapt to the different conditions at every hour and then we finished with a really good first time attack. I’m really happy with it. Tomorrow we will need to look at the tyres and look at our long run, the usual type of things. Overall I’m really satisfied and I’m working with my team to understand the secrets of the bike even more."

Valentino Rossi

"Today was a positive day because it was the first time that I have done a 1min 53secs lap of Qatar, it was my best lap and that was very important to do. There are still areas of the time attack and race pace that I need to improve a little bit, but I’m happy because we worked well today and improved the feeling. I was able to increase my corner entry speed, improve my race pace and now I’m closer to the top guys, which is crucial for the race. The important thing is that we are working in the right direction and closing the gap to the guys at the top."