Fabio Quartararo expecting “busy” winter for Yamaha MotoGP engineers

Yamaha has made a step forwards at the Malaysian MotoGP, according to Fabio Quartararo.

Both Quartararo and his factory Yamaha teammate Alex Rins had used updated electronics in Malaysia, which Quartararo accepted was a step forward, even though he expects more to come in terms of performance in other areas.

“I don’t think it’s [electronics] the key, but we will never gain half-a-second by only finding the grip, by one thing,” he said.

“I think we have to find half-a-tenth somewhere, half-a-tenth by the electronics, half-a-tenth by the swingarm, by the power.

“I think that we made a step clearly, on [electronics], and I think there are many more steps to do, but the good thing is that we have a lot of ideas that we don’t try yet. The winter will be busy for the engineers.”

Alex Rins, who was able to race in Malaysia with a new specification of Yamaha’s MotoGP engine, was also happy with his Malaysian Grand Prix, although he felt his potential would have been higher had the first start not been red flagged for a crash involving Quartararo and the two factory KTM riders: Brad Binder and Jack Miller.

“Inside our possibilities, we did a step forward, especially starting on the Yamaha so far [back],” Rins said.

“Honestly, since Saturday I was feeling quite good on the bike.

“Unlucky, this red flag: I did an unbelievable start, I was there fighting with Marc [Marquez], but anyway I give it my maximum, I try to control the tyres as much as possible.

“Still, we need to improve, we need to understand why the drop is still quite high. But honestly we are working in a good way.”