Quartararo in Malaysian GP Q2 Line-Up After Positive Friday

10-11-2023

Quartararo in Malaysian GP Q2 Line-Up After Positive Friday

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP enjoyed a strong start to the Grand Prix of Malaysia with both Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli finishing inside the top 5 in FP1. They followed it up by securing 7th and 11th place respectively in the Practice, putting Quartararo on the Q2 entry list and Morbidelli in Q1.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli showed good pace on the Grand Prix of Malaysia Friday. The positive first day at the Sepang track saw Quartararo end the Practice session in 7th place, which means he will take part in Q2 tomorrow. Morbidelli had a big save on his final hot lap, costing him a chance to fight for a top-10 spot. He will take part in tomorrow‘s Q1.

Quartararo had a good start to the Malaysian GP weekend, resulting in fifth place in the FP1 timesheets. It gave the Frenchman the confidence to push in the overcast afternoon Practice. He was holding sixth place until the time attack kicked off. The Frenchman put in a bid for first but was soon relegated to fourth. Yellow flags made it tricky to further improve. His 1‘58.399s best time, set on lap 15/19, earned him seventh place, 0.576s from the top.

Morbidelli showed good pace in the morning session, which he wrapped up in fourth place. He followed it up with diligent work in the afternoon, still holding onto tenth place halfway through the session. He found some extra speed at the end of the Practice and moved up a few places. During the time attack the Italian pushed hard, but a moment in Turn 9 ended his chances to battle for a place in Q2. His 1‘58.571s, clocked on lap 15/19 ultimately put him in 11th place in the Practice results, 0.748s from first.

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 +8, followed by qualifying sessions from 10:50 - 11:30, and the Sprint that starts at 15:00.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"It was a great day. I didn‘t expect to make this lap time at the end of the Practice, it was pretty fast. The grip on the first day is always low here, but this afternoon I felt great, so I‘m happy. Also the pace is looking good. I‘m hoping to make further progress tomorrow because, for sure, our rivals will do so. I need to improve in Sector 3, and hopefully we can make a big step."

Franco Morbidelli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"It was a good day. The bike is working well here. I have a good feeling and I‘m able to be quick. Unfortunately, with the new tyre I was not able to put everything together and put in a lap that was good enough for a direct entry into Q2. We missed out by just a little. We have the duty to get better and try to make that extra step on new tyres in a time attack to push through and get into Q2 – that‘s the main focus. That should be our main target with the pace we have lately: we should start more towards the front to do good races."

Massimo Meregalli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director

"The objective was the top 10 for both riders, as always, and we came very close today. Sepang is a long track, but there are still 15 riders covered by 0.965s, so this shows how fierce the level of competition is this weekend. At the end of the session there were yellow flags, and that made it difficult for our riders to get a hot lap in. But focusing on the bright side, all in all, their pace and speed is pretty good. We will work hard to tweak our set-ups this evening and tomorrow morning. We are hoping for dry sessions, especially for FP2 and Q1, because we think Franky will have a good chance of joining Fabio in Q2."