MotoGP Rider Quotes – Sepang Test 2020
Fabio Quartararo – P1
“I am really positive because this is only our first day with the bike. We know that the Factory team tested on many occasions last season, but I’m really happy with the work of the team because we made so many changes in so few laps. We did 72 laps, which is quite a lot, but I’m so happy to already feel good on the bike. It is difficult to make a new bike really good in one day. We hope to make another step tomorrow. We had quite a lot of laps in the 1min 59secs on old tyres so that’s really positive. We need to improve the pace a little bit because I am not feeling 100% comfortable. We know that with a new bike you have some positive points and some parts that you are struggling a bit, but at the moment I have already found the positives in one day. With the settings we will change tomorrow we hope to find even more positive points.”
Fabio Quartararo
Jack Miller – P2
“I am very happy with how this day has gone, I can’t complain, there are still things to work on. When you change a bike you have to get the right feeling before you push hard. It takes time, but it takes everything you need to do it right… We’re definitely on the right way, I’m satisfied and I can’t wait to get back to work in the morning.”
Jack Miller
Joan Mir – P4
“It was quite tough today because there were a few different things to try, but this is all part of testing and it’s very important to try everything and understand everything. I’m very happy with how everything went, we found some positive things with the new chassis but we still need to analyse it more and find the best way. I managed some good laps, but there’s still room for improvement so we’ll push again tomorrow.”
Joan Mir
Franco Morbidelli – P5
I’m happy about today’s work, improving yesterday’s lap times. We’ve just been back-to-backing things that we were trying last year, as we wanted to reconfirm them for this year. Tomorrow we will try to make a time-attack, we will probably try to make that in the morning and then we will see what the weather is like. The forecast says it’s going to rain tomorrow but first of all we will do some work, then the time-attack, then continue to try some new things – we have some new ideas that we want to try with the bike.
Franco Morbidelli
Maverick Vinales – P6
“It went quite well. I’m happy because I felt quite good on the bike and my rhythm seems to be very competitive. At the end we improved some things that were quite important. We understand many other points, and day by day we are getting more ready for the Qatar race. We improved quite a lot since this morning, especially the rhythm, that was the most important for us at this moment. Like I said, the first laps, trying to push on braking, the feeling is very positive. We have improved the top speed. We are at the level of some of the other manufacturers, and that’s always important.”
Maverick Vinales
Alex Rins – P7
“We’re very happy again today. We tested a lot of new things, like the chassis and some things with the electronics. The best lap I did was with the new chassis, so it looks like there’s a bit of an advantage over the older one, and I think we’ve done quite a big step because my times are also more consistent. So tomorrow I will ride with the new chassis again and try to find the best set-up.”
Alex Rins
Marc Marquez – P9
“I’m very happy today as the shoulder was feeling better than yesterday, this is good. Unfortunately we had a crash, it looked big but it was a slow crash so I am alright but it does show that we need to remain 100% concentrated as there’s no room for small mistakes with my physical condition. The day was finished before the crash, so it did not stop us doing what we needed, the goal was 45 laps today. Tomorrow we will do more laps to keep understanding the new tyres along with our own changes.”
Marc Marquez
Valentino Rossi – P10
“Everybody is very strong, very fast as always. We are not so far from the top. The second day was better than the first day because we worked a lot on the new bike. We need some more experience and some more kilometres, but today we already found something good, especially for the grip, and the pace with the race tyre is positive. For me, the bike has better potential than last year, but we need to work because also the other manufacturers are making steps, and like I said before, they are very strong. So, we need to continue to work hard, but it looks like we’re heading in the right direction.”
Valentino Rossi
Cal Crutchlow – P12
“We worked really hard as a team today to clock up 64 laps, and we ran through a lot of items for Honda including different chassis on the 2019 and 2020 bike. We were trying to find which was the most positive of the two. It was a long list of items that took quite a while to get through, but we made a lot of good laps and I felt quite good on the bike. I wasn’t able to be super-fast over a full lap as such, but I was really consistent throughout the day and so we look forward to the last day of testing here in Malaysia.”
Cal Crutchlow
Danilo Petrucci – P13
“I am not completely satisfied with my ranking today. But still, I am happy because compared to yesterday we were able to make a big step forward and again we are really close to the top. Today we tried different new components, amongst which we also tried a new fairing: we did many laps, and my feeling with the used tyres is good. Tomorrow we will focus more on improving the bike setup, and we will also work with the new tyres to understand what we can do to take full advantage from them.”
Danilo Petrucci
Pecco Bagnaia – P14
“I am satisfied with this second day of testing especially in the morning where we found a very effective balance for me. This afternoon we did some tests that did not give the hoped-for results. I still have some references from my 2018 bike and I have to adapt my riding style to this bike which is very different but it has a high potential. The feeling is positive.”
Pecco Bagnaia
Andrea Dovizioso – 15
“It has been another busy day. We were able to test several new components, like a new fairing, while in the afternoon I had a small crash and we couldn’t end our setup work on the Desmosedici. Now I have some pain in my hand and neck, but fortunately, we could get on with an important part of our program. I hope to feel better tomorrow and be able to take great advantage from the final day of testing”.
Andrea Dovizioso
Miguel Oliveira – P16
“We started quite well this morning and actually improved the setting of the bike a bit, which was the goal for today. We didn’t try anything special, but were working on fine-tuning of suspension and rear shock. Finally, we pushed quite a lot in the morning, so I felt a bit uncomfortable with the shoulder, therefore we did some longer stops in between the runs. Apart from that, we managed to do a really nice step with used tyres. Our average lap is very interesting, so I would say, I’m glad that we were able to make this step into the right direction.”
Miguel Oliveira
Alex Marquez – P17
“I’m quite happy again today, especially because we worked quite well with used tyres. Learning the tyres and adapting to them has been my main focus. We did a time attack in the morning but I wasn’t riding in the best way, so to get a 59.6 is quite okay. The most important aspect of today was our long run, we had good pace and I was also able to see physically where I still need to work. Overall I felt good and I’m pleased with everything we are doing and how we have done it.”
Alex Marquez
Sylvain Guintoli – P22
“It was another good day and I improved my best Sepang time again a little bit this morning. We went on to test a lot of different configurations of the chassis, and it went well and we feel positive. So yesterday the focus was more on aerodynamics and today was more about the chassis and settings. Tomorrow I’ll ride a few laps in the morning to test the tyres and then Takuya Tsuda will take over.”
Sylvain Guintoli
Takaaki Nakagami – P22
“I had a little better feeling on the second day here in Sepang. Yesterday I was in a bit of pain, but today I took some painkillers and it helped me continue riding right until six o’clock, so that’s a big step compared to Friday. I’m still not in perfect physical condition of course, but we still tried to make some progress with our bike. I tested some new parts today and tried some different settings, and we worked a fair amount on the geometry of the machine with some positive results. Still our performance isn’t the best and there’s a big gap to the top, but we are staying calm about the situation because I’m not at the top of my physical fitness yet. Hopefully tomorrow we can make another step forward, this has been an important three days to get back riding again, and then we can look forward to the final test in Qatar.”
Takaaki Nakagami
Iker Lecuona – P23
“I’m very happy about today, because I improved my lap time compared to yesterday again a little bit. I continue to learn, I continue to try some electronic changes and some setting changes. Anyway, we stopped a bit earlier today, because these days including the shakedown are truly intense. I still hope that I can lower my lap time a bit more tomorrow in order to conclude this test on a positive note.”
Iker Lecuona
2020 MotoGP Sepang Test Day Two Times
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | QUARTARARO, Fabio | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1m58.572 |
| 2 | MILLER, Jack | Pramac Racing | +0.069 |
| 3 | PEDROSA, Dani | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | +0.090 |
| 4 | MIR, Joan | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | +0.159 |
| 5 | MORBIDELLI, Franco | Petronas Yamaha SRT | +0.259 |
| 6 | VIÑALES, Maverick | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | +0.321 |
| 7 | RINS, Alex | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | +0.406 |
| 8 | ESPARGARO, Pol | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | +0.417 |
| 9 | MARQUEZ, Marc | Repsol Honda Team | +0.525 |
| 10 | ROSSI, Valentino | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | +0.544 |
| 11 | ESPARGARO, Aleix | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | +0.652 |
| 12 | CRUTCHLOW, Cal | LCR Honda CASTROL | +0.675 |
| 13 | PETRUCCI, Danilo | Ducati Team | +0.685 |
| 14 | BAGNAIA, Francesco | Pramac Racing | +0.741 |
| 15 | DOVIZIOSO, Andrea | Ducati Team | +0.770 |
| 16 | OLIVEIRA, Miguel | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | +0.793 |
| 17 | MARQUEZ, Alex | Repsol Honda Team | +1.089 |
| 18 | BINDER, Brad | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | +1.208 |
| 19 | ZARCO, Johann | Reale Avintia Racing | +1.253 |
| 20 | RABAT, Tito | Reale Avintia Racing | +1.617 |
| 21 | GUINTOLI, Sylvain | SUZUKI Test Team | +1.714 |
| 22 | NAKAGAMI, Takaaki | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | +1.775 |
| 23 | LECUONA, Iker | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | +1.824 |
| 24 | TEST 3, Yamaha | Yamaha Test Team | +2.219 |
| 25 | TEST 1, Yamaha | Yamaha Test Team | +2.348 |
| 26 | SMITH, Bradley | Aprilia Factory Racing | +2.547 |
| 2020 MotoGP Calendar | ||
 |
||
| Date | Grand Prix | Circuit |
| 08 March | Qatar* | Losail International Circuit |
| 22 March | Thailand | Chang International Circuit |
| 05 April | Americas | Circuit of the Americas |
| 19 April | Republica Argentina | Termas de Rio Hondo |
| 03 May | Spain | Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto |
| 17 May | France | Le Mans |
| 31 May | Italy | Autodromo del Mugello |
| 07 June | Catalunya | Barcelona – Catalunya |
| 21 June | Germany | Sachsenring |
| 28 June | Netherlands | TT Circuit Assen |
| 12 July | Finland** | KymiRing |
| 09 August | Czech Republic | Automotodrom Brno |
| 16 August | Austria | Red Bull Ring-Spielberg |
| 30 August | Great Britain | Silverstone |
| 13 September | San Marino | Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli |
| 04 October | Aragón | MotorLand Aragón |
| 18 October | Japan | Twin Ring Motegi |
| 25 October | Australia | Phillip Island |
| 01 November | Malaysia | Sepang International Circuit |
| 15 November | Comunitat Valenciana | Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo |
| *Evening ** Subject to FIM Homologation |
||
Source: MCNews.com.au