Fabio Quartararo finished the last day of the season in 12th position at the tests in Valencia. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ rider finished the 2022/2023 season in 10th place overall and hopes to improve significantly next season.
In a debrief, the French rider spoke about the sensations of the new bike for next season.
– ‘ The new bike had a lot of work to do, especially in terms of aerodynamics. I think we’ve made a step forward there, but we need to change the balance of the bike. We didn’t have enough time because we started an hour late and I think we need to adjust the bike, we tried a new fairing and the new engine is very similar to the old one, but slightly better. I will now have a meeting with Yamaha to discuss the outcome of today, I think the new aerodynamics are good for next season. There’s a lot to develop and improve, but I expect a lot more, of course we’re still a long way from next season, but we’re still a long way from the riders at the front. Today was very windy and cold, which didn’t help much. In Malaysia we’ll be better at testing because there are some very important corners for us to develop the bike. We’re still a long way from where we want to be and I hope that in the three days we have in Malaysia we can improve a lot.
Asked about his new teammate and what he could do to help the bike evolve for next season, Fábio replied: “It’s difficult to say yet, because Alex is still on his first day and the sensations he had today are more for him than for us. The conditions weren’t ideal either and it’s difficult to be going in the same direction. In Malaysia I think we’ll have to talk more in order to evolve, but right now, with one day of testing, there’s no point in talking to him.
Fabio Quartaro also spoke about the importance of the tests in Malaysia for Yamaha and for understanding the evolution of the bike.
– ‘ I think our mentality is different, we’re closer to the mentality of the European manufacturers. We want to have everything faster, I think the most important moment will be between February and July, it will be essential to develop the bike at that stage and then we will see the change in the mentality of having everything and developing the bike much faster. There were improvements today, but we’re still a long way behind the other riders. We really have to work hard and understand what we can improve to be better.