MotoGP 2021 Fires Up With Qatar Test
T
he 2021 MotoGP World
Championship began in ear-
nest in the desert of Qatar for the
opening test of the season over
the March 5-7 weekend.
The three days were packed
with every regular MotoGP pro-
tagonist and the associated test
riders for each manufacturer on
track, and it would be three-time
2020 race winner Fabio Quar-
tararo on his new Monster En-
ergy Factory Yamaha who would
lead the times overall, posting a
1:53.940 after 59 laps on day two.
Quartararo admitted he felt "to-
tally lost" when readjusting to his
MotoGP machine after spending
the winter riding a Yamaha YZF-R1
street bike in training, finishing
down the order in 15th on day one
but improving dramatically on day
two. Due to the ban on engine de-
velopment on account of Covid-19
for 2021, Quartararo's time came
on a machine that's quite similar
to the one he raced in Petronas
colors last year.
"I've been doing a lot of train-
ing in the off-season, motocross
and also flat track, but riding a
MotoGP bike is a different story,"
Quartararo said. "I am looking
forward to some days off now so
the blisters on my hands can heal.
Still, I am so happy that we get to
ride again in two days, because
I am enjoying it so much! We im-
proved the pace, that's something
really positive that we take away
from today. The feeling is great,
and I made good lap times. We
will use these upcoming two days
off to look at the data and decide
on the next steps."
Quartararo headed fellow 2021
factory team debutant Jack Miller
(Ducati Team). The Australian
was consistently at the pointy
end of the test, having spent the
majority of day two evaluating
IN
THE
WIND
P28
Fabio Quartararo didn't
let a 15th place on day
one get him down, and
blasted to the top of
the charts on day two.
PHOTOS BY GOLD & GOOSE
