Yamaha explain chassis plan after Fabio Quartararo storms into Q2

An encouraging Friday at Misano for Yamaha saw Fabio Quartararo do enough to enter Q2.

Quartararo was ninth-fastest in Friday practice ahead of the San Marino MotoGP.

It a rare day of optimism for the struggling Japanese manufacturer.

“It was a good start to the San Marino race weekend, especially for Fabio,” team boss Massimo Meregalli said.

“He was feeling good right from the jump in this morning's FP1. The objective was the top 10 in the Practice, and he pushed hard to make it happen.

“It's an encouraging result: being in Q2 directly can only help him in the remainder of the weekend.

“He tried a new chassis today, and so did Alex. Both of them gave positive feedback, so the plan is to keep using it the next two days.

“Alex's lap times improved compared to the private Misano test. We will analyse the data and tweak the bike's set-up this evening so tomorrow morning in FP2 we can help him make another step.”

Quartararo said: “After this morning, we knew it was going to be tough.

“I was in P5, but we have to take into account that only we and Honda tested here before.

“I expected to have a tough afternoon, but in the end we are inside the top 10. That was our goal, so I'm pretty happy.

“I think that the new chassis that we tried today was a bit better. Hopefully we can find a bit more grip tomorrow, trying some different things.”

Alex Rins, 17th on Friday, said: “We tried a new chassis, and it works quite well.

“It's difficult to make a comparison because the grip level is higher now here, but today I rode one second faster than I did during the test.

“So, for sure, the bike was a little bit better today. Or maybe my head was in test mode back then, so I wasn't pushing like I do during a GP weekend.

“Either way, this chassis was a little bit better, but we're still struggling a bit. We mixed the setting we used during the test with the setting we used in Aragon, but it didn't work as I hoped.

“It wasn't that bad, but there's still a big margin to improve.”

Yamaha have been buoyed by the acquisition of the Pramac satellite team, who will join in 2025.

The addition of Miguel Oliveira (with Jack Miller expected to follow) will provide them with two experienced riders whose data should enable Yamaha to hasten their development.