Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Proceed with 2023 Testing Plan in Portimão

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team continued their 2023 testing programme today. Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli took to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal and secured 8th and 21st place respectively in the Day-1 results.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team’s Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli resumed their 2023 MotoGP pre-season testing programme today. With some time lost due to wet conditions at the Sepang Test back in February, the teammates used the first of two riding days in Portugal to dive straight back into their 2023 testing programme. They took 8th and 21st place respectively in the Portimão MotoGP Official Test Day-1 timesheets.

The Portimão Test days are taking place from 09:30 to 17:30 local track time (GMT +0). By 12:30 local time on Day 1, Quartararo was holding fifth in the standings with a 1’39.971s, set on his 36th lap. He shifted his attention to trying an aero package and finding a solid base set-up until the final half-hour when he made a further time improvement. A 1’39.614s, set on lap 88/90 had the Frenchman finish in eighth place, 0.843s from first.

Morbidelli had the same objective as his teammate today: he too was mainly concerned with confirming and building on his findings from the previous testing days in Malaysia as well as the test in Valencia, held at the end of the 2022 season. Though booking gradual progress with his fastest lap time throughout the day, a 1’40.414s, set on lap 75/95, saw him in 21st place in today’s overall rankings, 1.643s from the top.