MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo finished third on day one of the Dutch MotoGP, while team-mate Maverick Vinales was the fastest.
Quartararo had surprisingly lost the pace this morning compared to Vinales – the gap was +0.561 seconds before he reduced that lead to just over two tenths this afternoon.
But when half of the FP2 session was still running, heavy rain hit the Cathedral of Speed, which meant that lap times could not be improved.
Quartararo drove the majority of the grid to test the new asphalt late in wet conditions but felt “too cautious” while confidence in the dryness with a hard rear tire was also “not so good”.
On the subject of matching items
“A pretty positive day, but unfortunately in FP1 I have to drive with the soft front for the amount of tires in the morning and it’s a tire that I usually don’t really like,” added Quartararo.
“So this morning we only used soft front. The middle rear was fine, but I couldn’t push the front, so I was pretty happy. This afternoon I was medium hard and it rained a bit. My confidence was with the hard ones not so good.
On the subject of matching items
“And then I was too careful with the wet. The feeling wasn’t bad, but I was way too careful and we know that we have to take a step tomorrow.”
After the opening day of the promotion, there appear to be divided opinions within the Yamaha warehouse on the grip and the bumps as Valentino Rossi said both have been significantly improved, however Quartararo believes not much has changed when it comes to the bumps and that they are “still” there, maybe even more “.
Quartararo said: “If you look at the lap times, the grip looks a little better. But for me the bumps are still there, and maybe more.
“Given the bumps, I’m not so convinced it’s better. Better, definitely not, let’s say the bike still moves a lot. But the grip is pretty good. Such a great balance.”
The Yamaha factory rider hinted at the worst spot on the track for those bumps by saying, “Maybe not worse, but exactly the same.
“There aren’t many before Turn 12, but turning 6 is one of those corners where you don’t want any bumps. So I have the feeling that it’s pretty dangerous there.”