Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP End Sepang Test On Positive Note

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team’s Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins finished their program at the Malaysia MotoGP Official Test. The third consecutive eight-hour session was crucial to collect some final data on various new items. The teammates ultimately took 3rd and 10th place respectively in today’s timesheets and in the overall Sepang Test results.

Quartararo continued work on Day 3, rounding out his testing program in Sepang. He completed 58 laps to finalise his evaluation of the various testing items at this track before giving them another go in Buriram, Thailand, next week. His best time on Day 3 was set early on again when he dipped under the 1’57s mark. The Frenchman posted a 1’56.724s on lap 10. The lap was fast enough to earn him third position in both today’s and the overall test classification, 0.231s from first. It had Quartararo leave the Sepang Test feeling satisfied with the work done so far.

Rins used the final day of riding in Sepang to fully form his verdict on the various testing items and also tried several setting options. As usual, his main aim was getting the bike MotoGP-season ready and gathering as much data as possible. However, having a good feeling on the bike, he too put in a time attack. It resulted in his fastest lap at the Sepang International Circuit. He clocked a 1’57.351s on lap 25/53. It had him place 10th in the Day 3 rankings and in the combined results, 0.858s from the top.

The team will now travel to the Chang International Circuit for the Thailand MotoGP Official Test, held from 12-13 February. It will be the final official MotoGP test before kicking off the 2025 MotoGP season at the same track with the Grand Prix of Thailand, held from 28 Feb-2 March.

“I am really happy! This is the first time that I reached a 1’56s here, so I am happy, and I think that today was a good day for us. The conditions were really good, so in general it was a positive day. Hopefully, during the Buriram Test we will have the same feeling. I’ve been working during the winter break, and not just on a road bike. In general, I was trying to be faster on one lap. I think this was a good point of improvement, but I also think the bike improved in some areas, which helps me to be fast on one lap. I think the goals I set for this test were neither too positive nor too negative. But it’s just one test. I think the real situation won’t show until we’re in Buriram on the Friday afternoon of the GP weekend and during qualifying.” — Fabio Quartararo, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Sepang Test: 3rd, 1’56.724

“My feelings are really quite okay here. Including the Shakedown, all five days of riding at Sepang were quite positive for us. We tried many items and many things. In the last few days, between 10am and 11am, everyone was putting in a time attack on the soft tyre. We had this included in the plan for me too, but we delayed it a little bit. I preferred to focus on trying new things with the set-up, and that was quite good. From 10am to 11am, I was riding with used tyres and trying different things. Once I had a good feeling, we put in new tyres, and I improved my best lap time here from a 1’57.7s, set in last year’s Malaysia GP qualifying, to a 1’57.3s. I set this time while the track was not in the perfect condition, so I’m quite happy. I’m also quite satisfied with what we tested here. Let’s bring this package to Thailand so we can make a comparison.” — Alex Rins, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Sepang Test: 10th, 1’57.351

“Overall, these two tests, the Shakedown and the Official Test, have been positive for our team. We were able to compare the data from last year’s winter test and GP to this year’s test, and it shows in the lap times that we have improved. It’s been a while since we last had a chance to compare six riders’ data, and I believe this is already positively affecting the general performance. As per our company’s philosophy, we didn’t drastically make changes, but we did continue making progress and introducing updates in a natural way as a continuation of our 2024 testing. The combined effort of the two Yamaha Factory MotoGP teams started well in my opinion. It is too early to give a verdict already about our overall level. To have a better understanding of our real potential, the Buriram test will be more telling as all teams start their testing there at the same time.” — Massimo Meregalli, Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

source: Yamaha Racing