During the MtoGP test in Sepang there were two Yamaha M1s from the Test Team numbered 31 and 32 and visually differentiated by red and yellow stickers, called Test 1 and Test 2 in the rankings.
The explanation for this non-nominal allocation is that 3 pilots shared 2 motorcycles in turn: Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Kohta Nozane and Jonas Folger.
Not really easy to follow but, as the hours went by, it appeared that the German rider rode Test2 on Wednesday and Friday, taking a break on Thursday, the day when Kohta Nozane took the Test2 handlebars, leaving Katsuyuki Nakasuga to the monopoly of Test1.
But why try to elucidate all this?
Because Jonas Folger's times have never been impressive, the #32 Yamaha finishing these 3 days in penultimate position, exactly 3 seconds behind Danilo Petrucci's best time.
A seemingly strange thing since we know the Yamaha rider is faster than his Japanese colleagues, and we therefore expected to see him lap times similar to those of the Petronas.
Jonas Folger provided the explanation to Günther Wiesinger on the site speedweek: “Actually, I worked with the Japanese mainly on electronics. We haven't done anything to the chassis. These are the engine mapping and the Blipper (shifter variant), which have changed slightly to give more grip to the rear wheel during the braking phase. That was the main topic we had. To do this, we changed the shift times and other little things when changing gears. We didn't run fast times. The priority on the Yamaha side was that the Blipper and electronics were working properly. We have tried and fixed some issues in this area.
Personally, I would have liked to drive fast, that's what every racing driver wants and that was also my goal. But with Yamaha's goals for the test team and the way we work and proceed now, I can't ride fast.
I wanted to drive fast. I asked if we could do a tune for me and adjust the electronics to my riding style. But it wasn't a priority. It's not important to them. You have to mention it.”
Once this has been explained, the native from across the Rhine summarizes his work as follows on his page Facebook : “I’m very happy with how things have gone over this past week. As well as testing and selecting different parts, it is important to understand and learn the tasks of the test driver role, progressing in this area of course, although it is sometimes difficult not to watch the lap times. We are therefore looking forward to continuing this project in the near future.
2´01.243 (Session 3)”.
MotoGP, Sepang J3 Test: times
| 1 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati GP19 | 1:58.239 | ||
| 2 | 63 | Francis Bagnaia | Ducati GP18 | 1:58.302 | 0.063 | 0.063 |
| 3 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati GP19 | 1:58.366 | 0.127 | 0.064 |
| 4 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati GP19 | 1:58.538 | 0.299 | 0.172 |
| 5 | 12 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha M1 | 1:58.644 | 0.405 | 0.106 |
| 6 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda RC213V | 1:58.780 | 0.541 | 0.136 |
| 7 | 41 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:59.022 | 0.783 | 0.242 |
| 8 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha M1 | 1:59.141 | 0.902 | 0.119 |
| 9 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda RC213V | 1:59.148 | 0.909 | 0.007 |
| 10 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha M1 | 1:59.155 | 0.916 | 0.007 |
| 11 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda RC213V | 1:59.170 | 0.931 | 0.015 |
| 12 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:59.180 | 0.941 | 0.010 |
| 13 | 6 | Stefan bradl | Honda RC213V | 1:59.368 | 1.129 | 0.188 |
| 14 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati GP18 | 1:59.485 | 1.246 | 0.117 |
| 15 | 36 | Joan mir | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:59.486 | 1.247 | 0.001 |
| 16 | 20 | fabio quartararo | Yamaha M1 | 1:59.497 | 1.258 | 0.011 |
| 17 | 5 | Johann zarco | KTM RC16 | 1:59.640 | 1.401 | 0.143 |
| 18 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | KTM RC16 | 1:59.751 | 1.512 | 0.111 |
| 19 | 88 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM RC16 | 1:59.949 | 1.710 | 0.198 |
| 20 | 17 | Karel Abraham | Ducati GP18 | 2:00.378 | 2.139 | 0.429 |
| 21 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | KTM RC16 | 2:00.766 | 2.527 | 0.388 |
| 22 | 50 | Sylvain Guintoli | Suzuki GSX-RR | 2:00.990 | 2.751 | 0.224 |
| 23 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia RS-GP | 2:00.995 | 2.756 | 0.005 |
| 24 | 66 | Mika Kallio | KTM RC16 | 2:01.020 | 2.781 | 0.025 |
| 25 | T2 | Nakasuga/Folger | Yamaha M1 | 2:01.243 | 3.004 | 0.223 |
| 26 | T1 | Jonas Folger | Yamaha M1 | 2:01.719 | 3.480 | 0.476 |
