Sepang.- If after the first test day in Malaysia Fabio Quartararo assured that his sensations with the new M1 2022 “are not the best”, after finishing the first tests of the preseason things seem to have improved slightly, although for the French the Yamaha’s advances have fallen short of its main competitors.
“I’m very happy because from the first lap I was able to ride more naturally today, with much more cornering,” admitted the Frenchman. “Maybe with two more fast laps I could have lowered the record,” said a Quartararo, who finished seventh (1.58.313) just 0.182 from the reference set by Enea Bastianini, who lapped below the pole record for the circuit.
In terms of testing, the Yamaha man admitted that he expected more.
“I have tried a new chassis and a setup to lower the rear bike. I expected much more from this test, to be honest. We hope to leave Mandalika happier”, where the world championship caravan will travel this Monday for three new days of training at the end of week.
On the level of improvement of the M1 2022 compared to last year, Fabio made a comparison with his rivals.
“Honda, Suzuki and Aprilia have improved a lot, more than us,” he said. “The others have taken two steps forward; we only half,” he assured disgruntled.
While the 2021 champion fights to have the best bike to defend the crown, on the other side of the box his new teammate Franco Morbidelli is doing it to adapt to a completely new bike for him, which does not make him competitive to help in the development , nor does it create a competition so that the French have extra stimuli.
“Franco will be fast in the near future,” he said. “But when Maverick was by my side I learned a lot, and when he won in Qatar he pushed me to the limit. But I don’t need anyone to push me to give my best,” he separated the concepts.
In contrast to the previous day, in which Fabio was seen to be really angry, this Sunday he was seen to be more animated.
“I’m not happy when you consider what awaited me. It’s important not to get depressed. I have what I have, and what I want is to give my best, and that’s what I’ve done.”
What can no longer be fixed is the supposed lack of power compared to the machines of Ducati, Honda and even Aprilia in terms of power.
“There is no time to change what we lack (power). In that sense, I think this bike will be more or less the one we will start with in Qatar. There is no time to test (a new engine),” lamented the boy. of the Côte d’Azur.
