After yesterday's blackout, Yamaha finally returned to the track today in Sepang. Apparently, the engineers have solved the problem, but they have told the riders to stay calm on the track.
Among those who took to the track today was Alex Rins, the only member of the factory team present, given Fabio Quartararo's absence. The Spaniard's words seem reassuring, but at the same time, Alex is aware that this Sepang test may not have gone exactly as it should have.
"Fortunately, we had already tested all the most important things we needed to evaluate in the first few days, during the shakedown, as well as on the first day of testing," he said. "Every time you take to the track, you can't waste time, considering that we haven't worked on all areas of the bike yet. Our work plan was to focus on minor but still important aspects, such as suspension, forks, and ergonomics. Unfortunately, due to the problem we had yesterday, we were unable to carry out everything as planned. Today, however, we returned to the track, working mainly on ergonomics."
Has Yamaha understood yesterday's problem?
"Yamaha told us not to ride for safety reasons, as Quartararo and Toprak had broken some engines. As a result, it was better to check everything before continuing. In the end, it seems that the problem has been identified and, as a result, today they gave us the go-ahead to return to the track, albeit calmly and doing few activities. We did an ergonomic test and tonight we will do a short sprint simulation. We can't do many laps, like 60-70, but the important thing is to be back on track."
The next test will be at Buriram...
"New engines will arrive in Thailand, so we will be able to ride more freely. Now the problem seems to be under control and at Buriram we will be able to further evaluate the engines, but at the moment we have to stay calm. Fortunately, Miller and I didn't have any problems, but we couldn't take any risks."
Did what happened yesterday mean you had to give up on some start or race simulations?
"Yes, we didn't do some of the start simulations again because they asked us to take it easy and not do 60-70 laps. However, we had already tried them on the first day, so we chose to focus on other things."
What is the conclusion from a technical point of view of this test?
"Even with the restrictions, we managed to test everything that was important to test. Today was the day I rode fastest so far. As I said, what happened yesterday didn't limit us in terms of engine speed, let alone performance. In fact, the bike is running as it did in the first days of the shakedown."