Top-10 Result for Quartararo on Indonesia GP Friday

13-10-2023

Top-10 Result for Quartararo on Indonesia GP Friday

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team began action at the Mandalika International Circuit today. Fabio Quartararo worked diligently throughout the day to wrap up the Friday with a top-10 result and a spot in Q2 secured. After a positive morning session, Franco Morbidelli encountered more challenges in the afternoon. He ended the Practice in 15th place, putting him in Q1.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo finished the first day at the Mandalika International Circuit strong. He showed good pace throughout the Practice session and ultimately ended the day in 10th place, earning him a direct spot in Q2. Franco Morbidelli had a positive morning session but was unable to challenge for a top-10 result in the afternoon. He ended the Practice in 15th place, which puts him on the entry list for Q1.

Quartararo had work to do after finishing 12th in P1, but he was featured inside the top 5 in the afternoon session in no time. The Frenchman worked on his bike‘s set-up and was putting in his bid for a top-3 result in the time attack towards the end of the session, but frequent yellow flags on his final run made that virtually impossible. He clocked a 1‘31.229s on lap 21/26 that put him in tenth place in the timesheets, earning him a place in Q2.

Morbidelli had finished the morning session in fourth place and was keen to keep up the good work in the Practice session. However, it did require some effort from the Italian. He found top-10 pace after the first 45 minutes, but then the time attack started. Morbido needed 0.289s to secure a place in Q2 as he started his final run. Amid the yellow flags, he posted a 1‘31.561s best time on lap 21/23, which saw him finish in 15th place, 1.087s from today‘s fastest time.

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 the qualifying sessions from 10:50 – 11:30, and the Sprint that starts at 15:00.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"We completed the objective. We also did a great lap time, but it was under a yellow flag, though I couldn‘t see it until the last moment. But the target was met. We are not too bad at the moment. We don‘t have the pace for a podium yet, but of course we will give our maximum to fight for the best possible position. I was superfast in Sector 2 last year, but this year we are struggling, so we will try to find a solution tomorrow."

Franco Morbidelli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

"It was an interesting day. This morning I had feeling, but this afternoon I had a completely different one. I had no rear grip or front feeling, so it was difficult. We have to do good work tomorrow to try to adjust everything, have a different feeling in many areas, and get into Q2."

Massimo Meregalli

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Team Director

"The first day was a bit hit and miss for us. Fabio struggled a little in the morning but found an improvement in the afternoon and secured a place in Q2. For Franky it was the other way around: after a positive morning session he struggled to shave off the time needed for a spot in Q2. We will look carefully at today‘s data. We don‘t have much previous data, considering the track has been resurfaced, so we are positive that we can find further setting improvements. The track conditions will hopefully also improve considerably throughout this weekend. Today they were pretty much as we expected: going off the clean racing line even slightly can cost you dearly. We hope this will no longer be the case by the time we start the Sprint tomorrow, as it will make overtaking extra risky."