RiderTua.com – Surprising! After only starting from 16th and 20th positions in Qatar, the Monster Yamaha rider duo Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins immediately qualified for Q2 for the Portuguese GP. They finished Friday afternoon’s session in 9th and 10th positions, just 0.008 seconds and 0.5 seconds respectively from Friday’s fastest rider Enea Bastianini (Ducati).
This is particularly surprising considering the M1 often struggled in Friday’s dusty, low-grip conditions and was particularly weak when it came to extracting maximum grip from the new tires during time attacks.
Yamaha Duo Immediately Enters Q2 Portuguese GP: Extraordinary Achievement
Yamaha team manager Massimo Meregalli said, “Both our riders are in the top 10 and preparing for Q2 is a job well done. Of course, this has always been our target. But we know that, realistically it is not easy to achieve at the moment, he said. The track was a bit dirty, and Yamaha usually struggles in such conditions. But today they are fine.
Quartararo finished in 11th position and lost 17 seconds to winner Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) at the Qatar GP. He said he felt pretty good. They’re in Q2 and it’s quite positive. There are a lot of things they have to change in the future, and so do other manufacturers. But according to him Yamaha has a little margin starting today. In Qatar they learned a lot and their racing style was completely different to last year’s and is still different! and for him this is not easy. “Because it’s not a completely new bike but the style is different and he still needs a little time to adapt,” said Fabio.
El Diablo added, “We adjusted a lot of electronics, which was a problem and we had to take a big step. Of course tomorrow (Saturday) we will not change the bike in a big way but on the electronics we still have a lot to work on and improve.”
Rins appeared balanced, not only in the time record but his racing style also helped. Morbidelli is also fast but inconsistent. Alex has a racing style that is more like Fabio, but he is a little different in terms of electronics, so this is a bit important. Rins is the only rider who can race like that. In terms of speed, he is very fast and on a track like this. Yamaha has memories of fighting for victory. Rins is fast and that helps the French rider…
Meanwhile team-mate Alex Rins stressed that he is using the same specification bike as Qatar, with new parts to be released at Monday’s private test at the same venue. “The bike was the same as in Qatar. We didn’t have time to try new things. But starting from FP1, I felt confident with the bike. This track is very different to Lusail, and I was able to adapt more quickly. In practice, I was quite competitive, and I “I can enter Q2. This is an extraordinary achievement for me,” said Rins.
Rins continued that he had not been able to enter Q2 for a long time, also because of a foot problem (injury). It’s been a lot of racing since I was last in Q2, and he still has time to improve. Yamaha has the same improvement points as they experienced in Qatar, so the team is gathering information and improving the things they have and trying to take as much advantage as possible from this, said the former Suzuki MotoGP rider.
