Quartararo takes lead in Malaysia MotoGP first day test
Sepang, Malaysia: French rider Fabio Quartararo took first place at the MotoGP pre-season test Friday, zipping past his opponents' best times on the first day of Malaysia's Sepang test circuit.
Powering to victory on an initially hot day, the 20-year-old recorded his quickest lap time of 1min 58.945sec, beating 25 other riders to the punch on a 2019 YZR-M1 Yamaha.
"It was the plan to ride the 2019 bikes (today)," Quartararo told reporters after the test.
"But of course … I'm looking at my phone every hour to try the new one and have for the first time the feeling of the new one."
The Frenchman said this after the Petronas Yamaha SRT racing team unveiled the 2020 MotoGP season bikes on Thursday.
"I expect because first of all it's a different engine than the 2019 bikes. Looks like the bike has a little bit more top speed -- the new one -- but the chassis we don't know," he said. Steady rain starting at about 2:30pm pulled the bikes off the track for nearly two hours before the test resumed. - AFP