During an interview, it sometimes happens that a silence or a question says more than an answer...
In our opinion, this is the case when the excellent Manuel Pecino declares to Wilco Zeelenberg, the team manager of the Petronas Yamaha SRT team, that he has a promising rider and a question mark. Not devoid of humor, the former coach of Maverick Viñales then asks which one is the question mark.
And when the Spanish journalist answers him “Quartararo”, Wilco Zeelenberg asks " Yes ? You think ? ».
It must be said that, without prejudging the future, it is clear that the French rookie outperformed his teammate during the last tests in Qatar, whether on a timed lap or during his race simulation.
We have some information to explain this, but first, let's listen Wilco Zeelenberg which learns more about the expectations of its pilots and the equipment at its disposal.
For Fabio, the objective is clear: “He has to try to be rookie of the year, which won't be easy. He has to beat Mir who is on a factory bike, he has to beat Bagnaia, Oliveira… If he succeeds, it will be fantastic.”
For Franco: “He has a year of experience and looking at his performances with us so far, he has to be the best driver for an independent team.”
So, a priori, in front of the French pilot…
In the fight that will pit them against each other, the Petronas Yamaha riders do not have quite the same equipment.
“Yamaha decided to have four more or less identical engines, because it is much easier to work with such a format, which is good for us, of course. We decided to provide Franco with an “A kit” and Fabio with a “B kit”. Quartararo will also lack other aspects, since he will not get the development that Franco will get. Yamaha said we could have one guy following the evolution of the factory boys, but not two. For example, Franco has the carbon front fork. It has the same motorcycle specification as Vale and Maverick… [The engine speed] is a little different… They have saved costs in this area… We can say that at the moment we are happy with what Yamaha provides. For Fabio especially. They are really willing to help us even when we don’t have to pay for it.”
The Petronas Yamaha SRT team therefore has superior bikes to those available to Tech3 until last year. Traditionally user-friendly, the Yamaha M1s also adapt very well to the Losail track, as evidenced by the track record belonging to Johann zarco or the 4 Iwata machines positioned in the top 6 at the end of the last MotoGP tests in Qatar.
And even if he ranked “only” 6th, it’s not a question of underestimating Franco Morbidelli. From what we know, the Italian rider got a little lost in his settings during the MotoGP test, while Fabio Quartararo had the main objective of becoming familiar with the premier category with a standard configuration.
However, at Yamaha, everyone's data is accessible to everyone, and there is therefore no reason why the Italian rider should not get off to a better start next weekend...
