Monster Yamaha launched its 2022 bid to retain the MotoGP Championship with Fabio Quartararo and Frank Morbidelli on Friday.
The reigning champion spoke of his self-belief heading in to his defending season, while Morbidelli has spent the winter focused on his fitness ahead of his own challenge.
Yamaha secured a raft of titles across a multitude of disciplines in 2021, with MotoGP - both team, manufacturers and rider, still the ultimate goal for Yamaha Racing Director Lin Jarvis. A team structure reshuffle welcomes Patrick Primmer as Morbidelli’s Crew Chief with Silvano Galbusera returning to the test team for the coming year.
A confident and relaxed Quartararo described the team environment as a family and home from home, both dedicated to their cause and full of fun when the work is complete, with his new full-time teammate echoing the feelings, having joined from last September.
“The winter break was quite long, but if I‘m honest I feel like I kept busy the whole time,” Quartararo explained. “There were many events for me to attend, and of course training continued as normal – so all in all it was quite busy, but in a good way. I‘m excited to begin the new season and start riding and improving.
“We got the title last year, and that‘s great. Nobody can ever take that away from me, but as of the first day of riding, none of that matters anymore. Last year‘s title win is behind us now, we must focus on this year‘s championship.
“Last year we barely did any pre-season testing due to the pandemic. This year I already have a year of experience with the Factory Team, so we know how to work well together. We know our strengths and where we can improve, so that will help during the tests in Sepang and Mandalika.”
“Last year
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