Quartararo: Aprilia, Honda, Suzuki made 'massive step'
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Ducati were ‘already super-fast’ but Aprilia, Honda and Suzuki have made ‘a massive step’.That was the verdict of Yamaha’s reigning MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo at the end of the season-opening Sepang test.The Frenchman finished the rain interrupted two-days in Malaysia with the seventh fastest lap time (+0.182s) behind three Ducatis, two Aprilias and a Suzuki.Aprilia, the only manufacturer on the current grid without a MotoGP win, was perhaps the biggest surprise.Related Sepang MotoGP Test Results – Sunday, Day 2 lap times (FINAL) Dovizioso: You must ride the Yamaha like Quartararo, it’s difficultAfter riding for part of the Shakedown, Aleix Espargaro and Quartararo’s former team-mate Maverick Vinales stayed top of the timesheets on day one of the Official test, then took second and fifth respectively on day two.”They have two riders riding super-fast,” Quartararo said of Aprilia. “It’s true they made more days [here] but the bike is working super well.Related Sepang MotoGP Test Results – Sunday, Day 2 lap times (5pm) KTM changed tactics for 2022: ‘New bike was not the right philosophy'”If you check top speed, it’s super-fast. I was behind Aleix for half a lap and the turning was a lot. I’m impressed by them. For me Aprilia, Honda and Suzuki made a massive step.”Quartararo added: “Ducati were already super-fast at the end of the season. But the three that impressed me more are [Aprilia, Honda and Suzuki].”To be honest I don’t think we [Yamaha] made a step like that, by far. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t competitive. It just means the others made a bigger step than us.”4″We are struggling in some areas. It’s strange to see I was struggling more with new tyres. Normally the time attack is one of my favourite things and I knew I could improve a lot more. I know the others made a big step in that area.”Quartararo was the only Yamaha rider inside the top 20 on the final timesheet but expects new team-mate Franco Morbidelli (24th) to be much closer at the coming Mandalika test.”You always want someone that pushes you to the limit,” Quartararo said. “Franco is going to be fast in the short future. In Mandalika he will be much closer.”5″In the first part of last season when Maverick was there, I learned from him. The first race in Qatar, I saw what he did and I pushed to apply what I missed.”Then Assen was the first time we both pushed ourselves to the limits. Assen for me was the most interesting qualifying. Even if I finished second because I made a mistake, I never pushed myself that much to the limit.”So I think it’s helping [to have other fast Yamahas] but I don’t need someone to push me to go fast.””6Turning to more technical aspects, having pleaded with Yamaha to close the top speed deficit since the middle of last season, Quartararo was only 18th quickest through the Sepang speed trap, 8.2km/h behind the 335.4km/h day two best by Ducati’s Johann Zarco.For comparison, the last time MotoGP tested at Sepang, in 2020, Quartararo’s top speed gap to the quickest Ducati had been 10km/h, suggesting a 1.8km/h relative gain.After day one, Quartararo admitted he’ll just have to adapt to the lack of top speed once again and didn’t sound too impressed by the other M1 developments.”7″I tested a new chassis. I tested… I don’t even know what I tested. A chassis for sure. A set-up where we put the bike lower. And… that’s it! The day was not a really, really big day,” Quartararo said.”To be honest I expected much more from this test. But it’s like this. Let’s see. At Mandalika we can try more or less the same things as we have now. Just in a different track. Let’s see if there we can see more positives.”Quartararo had also criticised his own riding on day one, saying he had been a little rusty after the winter break and needed to use more corner speed. The 22-year-old was happier with his performance on day two.”8″Straight away from the first lap I was riding more naturally. Super happy,” he said. “Unfortunately, we kept two tyres for a time attack [at the end of Sunday, but rain arrived.”I’m a bit sad because I wanted to go under the ’58s. I thought it was possible. But happy because even with used tyres I was fast. This morning I made a ‘59.4 with 21 laps on the rear. In the afternoon a ‘59.7 with a lot of laps. On my natural riding I’m super happy.”The final MotoGP pre-season test, at the new Mandalika circuit in Indonesia, will take place this weekend.”92022 Sepang MotoGP Test – Day 2 Top Speeds RiderBikeTop Speed (km/h)1Johann ZarcoDucati335.42Enea BastianiniDucati335.43Jack MillerDucati333.33Maverick VinalesAprilia333.35Francesco BagnaiaDucati332.36Marc MarquezHonda331.26Marco BezzecchiDucati331.28Jorge MartinDucati331.28Aleix EspargaroAprilia331.210Joan MirSuzuki331.210Fabio di GiannantonioDucati331.210Pol EspargaroHonda330.210Brad BinderKTM330.210Luca MariniDucati330.215Alex RinsSuzuki330.215Alex MarquezHonda329.217Raul FernandezKTM328.218Fabio QuartararoYamaha327.219Cal CrutchlowYamaha327.219Miguel OliveiraKTM327.221Takaaki NakagamiHonda327.221Remy GardnerKTM326.223Sylvain GuintoliSuzuki325.323Andrea DoviziosoYamaha324.325Darryn BinderYamaha323.325Franco MorbidelliYamaha322.3
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