While last fortnight’s Qatar opener highlighted the widening gulf between Yamaha and the frontrunners in MotoGP at the start of the 2024 MotoGP season, the Japanese manufacturer appeared to close the gap back in Portimao as both 2021 champion Quartararo and new recruit Alex Rins earned an automatic entry into Q2.
Quartararo ended up ninth quickest with a time that was just under half a second slower than pacesetter Enea Bastianini on the factory Ducati, while Rins was only a fraction of a second behind in 10th on the sister M1.
Crucially, both managed to beat not only the four Hondas but also the factory Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro, Gresini’s Alex Marquez and GasGas Tech3’s Pedro Acosta, representing a significant jump in performance from the Losail weekend.
But Yamaha’s improved showing at the Algarve venue didn’t come as a surprise to Quartararo, who said he had a firm belief that he could get inside the top 10 in practice.
"It's positive, even if I think we could have done a little better,” said the Frenchman. “But the most important thing today was to finish in the top ten and we achieved that, so, honestly, it's good!"
“Unexpected? No. It was the target today and I could see quite clearly that we could do it. We got through for very, very little, but in the end it's important to be in Q2 and even more with the track conditions we had, with really not much grip. It was important."
Source: Autosport