Marco Bezzecchi
Fabio Quartararo has discovered why Yamaha have failed to make ‘huge progress’ despite finishing second in the Barcelona test.
Following last weekend’s chaotic Catalan Grand Prix, which was won by VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio, teams returned to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the second in-season test of the year.
Although there were two sessions scheduled, no riders were able to take to the track in the afternoon due to rain.
In the end, KTM’s Pedro Acosta clocked the fastest time of the day, a 1:38.767, which was just 0.064 seconds quicker than Quartararo’s best effort. Tech3 star Enea Bastianini was third with a 1:38.884.
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Fabio Quartararo knows exactly why Yamaha have not made ‘huge progress’
Speaking after the session, Quartararo admitted that Yamaha did not make ‘huge progress’ despite clocking the second fastest lap.
Quartararo, who is set to join Honda for 2027 and 2028, stated that the track’s high grip contributed to his time, while claiming his bike’s top speed was ‘weak’.
Quartararo told Speedweek: “I wouldn’t call it huge progress, but we’re simply trying to improve our feeling for the bike. We want to achieve more consistency because the grip on the track was incredible today.
“I set that lap time without really pushing – the way we do in qualifying. The track offers a lot of grip, which is good, but the top speed was rather weak.
“No, it was an old engine that already had quite a high mileage. You can see from the top speed that it was slow.
“In the end, we tested everything. There are always things you’d like to test again and repeat – just like we did in Jerez. Simply to make sure.”
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Meanwhile, Toprak Razgatlioglu, who rides for Yamaha satellite team Pramac, was ‘satisfied’ with his own Barcelona test.
Although he finished more than one second behind Acosta, Razgatlioglu remained positive about his team’s progress.
He said to Speedweek: “I’m satisfied because we’ve improved a lot, especially with the medium tyre. We’ve made a really big step forward, particularly at corner entry – I feel the bike turns in a bit better
“Accelerating out of corners is also easier because the improved turn-in allows me to gain speed earlier. I’m running very consistent lap times – 40.0, 40.1, 40.0 on the medium tyre and riding solo.
“If I’m following someone, I can maybe manage a maximum of 39.7. But I achieved the same lap time with the soft tyres.”
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