Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli gave a masterclass performance during today’s FP2 session in the tricky conditions at Automotodrom Brno to make it a PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team one-two in the combined times.
The morning session saw the pair take to the first different circuit of the 2020 season, after two back-to-back events at Jerez. The 5.4km long Czech circuit, which hasn’t been resurfaced since 2008, proved to be a difficult one to master. After 18 laps completed aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1 Franco finished FP1 ninth with a 1min 57.718secs lap, while Fabio’s 1min 57.831secs lap time placed him 13th in the ultra competitive session, which saw the top sixteen riders separated by only 0.514secs.
As temperatures increased and the track lost grip, Quartararo struggled to make the soft tyre work in the opening stages of FP2. The Frenchman, who is currently leading the riders’ championship, adapted his riding style to the situation and headed out with only enough time on the clock for one final flying lap. The back-to-back race winner gave a masterclass of a lap to go top of the timings with a 1min 56.502secs time, which also placed him first in the combined standings. Team-mate Morbidelli, who had been within the top riders for the majority of the session, also put in an extremely strong lap to make it a PETRONAS Yamaha SRT one-two. The Italian also took second in the combined times with a lap that was only 0.007secs shy of his team-mate (1min 56.509secs).
Fabio and Franco will be back out on track for the first of two practice sessions tomorrow at 9.55am local time (3.55pm MYT), ahead of the afternoon’s qualifying sessions at 2.10pm local time (8.10pm MYT).
Quartararo And Morbidelli Top Friday Sessions In Brno
Quartararo And Morbidelli Top Friday Sessions In Brno
PETRONAS Yamaha SRT riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli finished first and second respectively across the two Free Practice sessions in the Czech Republic
I had a really good feeling with the bike today, but we had an issue with tyre consistency, which we need to find a better setting for. We have the speed, so that is good for tomorrow and we just need to make sure that we choose well which tyre we use Sunday in the race. At the end of the second session I was trying to find a way to ride differently to improve how the tyre feels and it worked and we finished quickest. Now we need to think about how we can improve this further, check the data and make sure that we are as prepared as we can be for qualifying tomorrow and then also Sunday’s race.
We had two great sessions today and I felt like we have carried on where we left off in Jerez, which is very positive. In FP2 we used the new soft tyre and put in a really good lap on it, which I’m really happy about. There are some things we need to understand, especially which tyre to use in the race, because with the changing track conditions it’s not clear what the best option is at the moment. I’m really happy with this first day here though and I’m looking to work with the team tonight to make sure we’re getting the best performance out of everything again tomorrow.
