Yamaha. For one, Quartararo had
plenty to test, including two new
engines, new aero packages, a
new chassis and swingarm—a
far cry from this time a year ago,
when the M1 was unchanged.
This was a new experience for
the Frenchman, whose testing
and development capabilities are
still unproven.
Second, the bike's huge defi
-
ciency last year—a lack of top
speed—was addressed as the
Frenchman was third fastest
through the speed traps on day
two when riding alone. He said at
the close of day two, "We made
a massive improvement."
But the final two hours of
Sunday brought the Iwata factory
down to earth. As both riders
fitted new tires and pushed for
a headline lap time, Quartararo
was dismayed a sizeable im
-
provement wasn't forthcoming.
"If I don't see the lap time, I feel
I'm riding in 58 low. But then I
look at the last time and I'm 59
low. It's not that I'm losing the
front everywhere or I have no
grip. I don't know what is go
-
ing on." Even if pace on used
tires was strong, Yamaha has a
month to remedy this worrying
end.
KTM
The big unknown of the three
days was KTM. If the timesheets
were the only thing to be consid
-
ered, it could be assumed KTM
is in a world of trouble. Brad
Binder was 14th, new signing
Jack Miller 18th. But neither rider
was overly fazed, and pointed to
the substantial testing work that
was completed as reason to be
positive.
Both riders, plus satellite man
Pol Espargaro, worked their way
through testing two engines
as well as two aero packages
across the three days, plus myr
-
iad other parts. Fine tuning little
details was still some way off. "It
was purely trying things to get as
much information as possible,"
said Binder. "We're now getting
it narrowed down to what our
package will look like." Finding
P46
WIND
IN THE
Good on old tires, shocking on
new ones. Yamaha man Fabio
Quartararo was not happy.
