Petronas Yamaha SRT riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli sampled a new prototype engine on day one of the Jerez MotoGP test, however the latest chassis and updated airbox as seen on the factory Yamahas of Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi were notably absent from their bikes.

Quartaro admitted it was difficult to understand all the benefits of the new engine following just one day of testing, where he posted the second fastest lap-time – 0.754s off pace-setter Vinales.

“It was a long day despite having great pace on the bike and we were able to try new things,” said Quartararo. “The tyres were working really well, but unfortunately, it seems like every time we put a new set on the bike there was a red flag or it started to rain a little!

“Maverick Vinales is really fast, but we’re not far behind him and I’m feeling really good. We used a new prototype engine from Yamaha for most of the day, but it was difficult to understand all the benefits from just one day, so there’s plenty to continue with tomorrow.”

Morbidelli, who was fifth fastest, says his first impression of the new engine is positive after quickly getting up to speed with it.

“I tried a new prototype engine specification today, and we were up to speed quite quickly with it,” Morbidelli declared. “I had a good feeling from the bike straight away, which is very positive. We’ve still got to collect data and work on our settings, but as a first impression, it was pretty great!

“The plan for tomorrow is to maintain the working routine from today and aim to reconfirm the items we tried in Valencia with the new engine, but for that to happen we need the weather to play ball!”