Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo resumed work at the Spielberg circuit today in preparation for Sunday‘s Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich. Much like last week, there was a night-and-day difference between the two Friday free practice sessions. The Frenchman finished FP1 holding sixth place and FP2 in ninth, ultimately ending the day in sixth position in the combined free practice timesheets.
The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team continued their search for the optimal settings around the Spielberg track in both the dry and the wet. Fabio Quartararo put in a good number of laps to adapt his YZR-M1 to all possible conditions ahead of Sunday‘s Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich and ended the Friday in sixth place in the combined results.
Quartararo was keen to take his Yamaha out for a spin again on Austrian soil this morning. He made the most of the perfectly sunny riding conditions, tweaking his already competitive ’dry bike‘ setting. The Frenchman stuck to the soft-medium tyre combination throughout the session. He lost a bit of time at the end of FP1 when he thought he felt something unusual on the bike, but the M1 was fine when he checked it. The number-20 rider was able to continue riding without any problem. Though he didn‘t put in a mini time-attack, he still finished comfortably inside the top 10. His 1‘23.865s, set on lap 6/21, earned him sixth place, 1.038s from first.
El Diablo had a busy afternoon adjusting his bike and his riding style to the drenched track. Knowing how quickly Spielberg’s track conditions change, he got right to work trying to improve his feeling in the wet. As the track dried in the latter stages of the session, the Yamaha man moved into the top 10 whilst still on rain tyres. He ended FP2 in ninth place with a 1‘32.784s time, set on lap 19/20, which put him 5.264s from the front. However, with no rider improving on their morning time, Quartararo remained sixth in the combined FP results.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
We did some good work today. First of all, Fabio‘s overall pace in FP1 is very positive. He was quite comfortable thanks to the solid basis we established last weekend. He didn’t do a time attack, but he still got sixth place in the FP1 and combined free practice results. The fully wet conditions at the start of FP2 were unexpected, but it was actually a welcome experience because it allowed us to gather important information. The forecasts predict that most MotoGP sessions this weekend will be dry, but today’s changeable weather once again underlined that we need to be ready for every eventuality. But regardless of the track conditions, our goal is the same as always: we want to be in Q2 and qualify as far towards the front of the grid as possible.
FABIO QUARTARARO
This morning was great! My pace was good, and the front tyre wasn’t even the one that I like. So, I’m curious to see tomorrow what that will be like. I think that we need to make a bigger step in the wet, because I have no feeling and this is something we need to improve. In FP1 I missed a gear and it felt like the engine was going down. I decided to stop to look at the dashboard, but everything was okay. It was just a mistake of mine. Some of our main rivals are fast, but I know I’m also super fast in qualifying, so I will go for it. I think we need to try!
