The second day of testing in Qatar saw Fabio Quartararo make the most of his time on track, setting the fastest lap of the day round the 5.4km long Losail International Circuit. On the other side of the PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team garage, Franco Morbidelli also ended the day at the sharp end of the field after setting the fourth fastest time.
After being the first rider out onto the circuit this morning, Fabio used the vastly differing track conditions between pre- and post-sunset to test different setups of his Yamaha YZR-M1, to find the best feeling for each scenario. The Frenchman was also able to test some different aerodynamic components for the front of his bike. Towards the end of the session, Fabio focused on some time-attack laps achieving from his 65 laps a best time of 1min 54.038secs, which placed him at the top of the timesheets.
Team-mate Morbidelli utilised the session today to cycle through different setup changes in order to find the optimum balance of his YZR-M1. The afternoon saw his lap times decrease on each run, achieving not only a great race pace but also some positive time-attack laps. Franco completed 70 laps of Losail International Circuit, the most of any rider today, the fastest of which was a 1min 54.481secs – only 0.443 seconds shy of Fabio – placing him fourth at the end of day two.
The final day of pre-season testing will once again commence at 1pm local time (11am CET and 10am GMT) tomorrow, after which the next action for PETRONAS Yamaha SRT will be the first race of the year, also in Qatar, next month (6-8 March).
