The PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team pair of Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli made a superb start to the British Grand Prix, with Quartararo smashing the Silverstone absolute lap record to end the opening day fastest overall and with Morbidelli finishing close behind in seventh place.
Quartararo set the quickest time of the day in the final minutes of FP2, taking nearly three quarters of a second off the previous record to end the day in P1. Initially docked the lap time for exceeding track limits, he had a nervous few minutes until race control reinstated it and returned him to the top spot. In fantastic shape for tomorrow’s qualifying session, Quartararo is raring to go on the newly-resurfaced Silverstone track.
Morbidelli worked hard for Sunday’s race during practice, concentrating on addressing some of the issues with the rear tyre that he faced last time out at the Austrian Grand Prix. Confident that he and his team have made a big step forwards, he’s delighted with what they’ve achieved so far and confident that he can continue to make improvements tomorrow.
Practice continues tomorrow at 0955 local time (1655 Malaysian time), before qualifying at 1400 local time (2100 Malaysian time) and the 20-lap race on Sunday at 1300 local time (2000 Malaysian time).
Fabio Quartararo
PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team
“The lap was really good and I’m pleased with the result – I gave it everything on the lap and I’m glad they gave both Valentino [Rossi] and I back our times. You can always go faster and there was a rider in front of me on my fastest lap, so we can go even quicker in qualifying. I think it’ll be possible to set the first 1’58 lap. The new asphalt is really flat and smooth and has a lot of grip; they’ve done a really good job with it.”
Franco Morbidelli
PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team