Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |News details:Positive First Sepang Test Day for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

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Following the Sepang Shakedown Test and the 2024 MEYM Season Launch event, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team got back into action at the Sepang International Circuit today. Both Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins completed 46 laps, ending the first of three days of the Sepang MotoGP Official Test in 3rd and 11th place.

Sepang (Malaysia), 6th February 2024

Today, new Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP teammates Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins kicked off the three-day Sepang MotoGP Official Test in Malaysia. The riders got straight to work, assessing electronics and settings tweaks. They ended in 3rd and 11th place respectively in the Day-1 timesheets.

Eager to make a strong start to the 2024 season, Quartararo got to work this morning with a game plan. He was going to dedicate Day 1 solely to fine-tuning electronics and settings. He rode 46 laps over the course of the first day and set a best time of 1'58.228s on lap 36/46 to take third place, 0.277s from the top.

Having spent the winter break working on the rehabilitation of his leg, Rins was reaping the rewards at the Shakedown Test and also today at the Sepang Test. He had a positive day at the office. He rode 46 laps over the course of eight hours of high-temperature testing. He set a best time of 1'58.716s on lap 18/46 and, despite not doing a time-attack, still placed 11th, 0.765s from the top.

Fabio Quartararo

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

I felt great! Basically, today we didn't really test new items. I tested a lot of electronics and settings of the bike. From the outside you can't really see what I tested, but it was a positive day. Tomorrow we will work in a similar way, and I think that it's quite important for us to stay focused because I feel that we have the potential, but we still have to find it. The plan for tomorrow is the same as for today: try to find the best electronics set-up and try to also find the best setting of the bike. This is changing because of the new aero, we have to adjust the balance of the bike. But I'm feeling pretty happy about how we are working in the team.

Álex Rins

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider

I'm quite grateful for the work we are doing. We are testing many things. We have also tested in the Shakedown, two full days of work. And the way of working is quite nice – I like it, for sure! I'm getting used to the way they work, and they are getting to know the way I work. Today we tested many things on the electronics side, working on the really used tyre to understand how the Yamaha works, and if I can adapt the bike a bit to my riding style. So I'm quite happy. Let's see tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll have more chance to improve and to test more things, because today we only used one set of new tyres to test the items. So, everything is under control.