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A lack of engine power dogged Quartararo’s title defence in 2022, with Yamaha forced to abandon its new engine prior to testing last year due to reliability issues and run a specification closer to the 2021 version.
Since then, Yamaha has been hard at work to develop a new, more powerful engine, bringing various versions to tests at Misano and Valencia last year prior to this weekend’s pre-season outing in Malaysia.
Quartararo, who was fourth fastest on Saturday’s rain-impacted second day of running, put Yamaha joint second on the speed trap figures at 335.4km/h, just 1km/h shy of Ducati.
The 2021 world champion admits now that Yamaha’s bike improvement has been “much more than I thought” and believes the Japanese brand is now much closer to Ducati than it was last season.
“Well, in 2022 we had no [new] …