Quartararo ‘heard and saw positive things’, ‘huge' number of Yamaha items

The 2021 world champion was left bitterly disappointed when the prototype 2023 engine failed to perform at November’s Valencia test, despite having impressed at previous outings.

But Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow set an eye-catching top speed of 335.4km/h at the Sepang Shakedown earlier this week, suggesting the Valencia ‘glitch’ has been fixed and Quartararo now "can’t wait" to try it for himself.

“The wait is over!” said Quartararo. “This winter break was very long, but in a way that was good for me because it gave me time to train and prepare for the upcoming season. It will be a long one – we know this.

“We need to put in good work during this test to make sure we are ready for it. I‘m excited to try the 2023 spec and to see what progress we made.

“I arrived in Sepang a bit earlier and spent some time at the track during the Shakedown Test. I heard and saw positive things, so I can’t wait to try it for myself.”

Yamaha has prepared ‘huge' number of items

Team director Massimo Meregalli revealed that the engine won’t be the only new development on track in Malaysia with aerodynamic (also used by Crutchlow at the Shakedown) and chassis parts also on offer.

“We have a good atmosphere in the garage after the Shakedown Test. It was a shame that rain cost us some time, so we hope for fully dry days during the upcoming test to get through all the testing items, even though the weather forecasts for this weekend are not great,” Meregalli said.

“I'm impressed with the proactive work done by the Yamaha engineers over the winter: we have many things to evaluate here. The number of items they prepared for this test is really huge!

“We have an updated chassis, aerodynamics, rear [swing] arm, and engine. I expect Friday morning to be used for the riders to get back up to speed after three months of no riding.

“After that, they have an intense working plan. It will be difficult to finish it all, considering the amount of time and tyres available to us as well as the weather conditions playing a key part.

“But we will try to get as much done as possible to start 2023 off in the right way.”

Morbidelli: This test is a fresh start

After a tough 2022, where he finished just 19th in the world championship, Quartararo’s team-mate Franco Morbidelli is looking to make a fresh start in Sepang.

“We are finally back together as a crew. This test is a fresh start, and you can feel the excitement. The Shakedown Test went well, so there is a positive atmosphere in our team. During the upcoming test I aim to show a good performance level.

“We improved towards the end of 2022, and now it‘s time to build onto that and make further steps. We have a lot of things to test in the next three days. We will work hard, as always, to make a good start to the 2023 pre-season.”

The Sepang test takes place from February 10-12.