Movistar Yamaha Teammates Secure Second Row Start in Sepang

Qualifying

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP enjoyed a full-on second day of MotoGP action at the Sepang International Circuit. Today in FP3 and FP4 they continued working on their YZR-M1s in dry conditions. After they both secured places in the Q2 session, the pair went on to set some seriously impressive lap times, under the 2'00s-mark, to secure fourth and fifth place respectively on the grid for tomorrow's Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Having set the fastest time in FP3 and the combined free practice timesheets, Rossi was motivated to do his passionate Malaysian fans proud again in Q2 and quickly headed towards the pit lane exit, in the midst of the rider field. His first flying lap put him in seventh place and he briefly moved up to fifth on his next attempt but was pushed back to eighth as he made his way back to the pit box.

With four minutes on the clock, the Doctor was back for a second run at the 5.5 km long circuit. He had time for two more tries and was determined to make the most of them. He set a 1'59.498s to take over pole briefly, but late efforts from his rivals after the flag came out relegated him to fourth position, 0.286s from first. Unable to improve on his last lap, the Italian will start tomorrow's race from the second row of the grid.

Keen-eyed spectators might have noticed a difference in the livery of the bikes today. The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders were showing off the orange ENEOS branding on the lower cowling, to highlight the long-standing partnership between Yamaha and JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy (the brand owner of ENEOS), that started in 2012.

Valentino Rossi

Position: 4th - Time: 1'59.498 - Laps: 7

"In general it was a good day because already from this morning I felt good with the bike. Into qualifying we were still working, because the level of the top five or six riders was very close, it was very balanced, we're all the same. I tried to push, my lap was good, I rode well. The lap time was OK, I saw P1 at that moment, but after that, the others improved. Starting from P4 is a good position, but we have to work on the balance of the bike because I'm not fast enough yet in some places. Like always, the tyre decision and the weather conditions will be very important tomorrow. For me, it's still open which tyre to use on the front and for the rear, we have to decide if we go with the medium or the hard and also the combination between the two, it depends. First of all, I hope for good weather tomorrow, so we can try to race with the slicks."

Massimo Meregalli

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - Team Director

"Today was quite full-on for the team, in order for us to make another step concerning the dry set-up of the bike. It wasn't easy because it was another hot day at the Sepang track, which makes riding three sessions in total a real challenge, but our riders came through. both riders were finally quite comfortable with their bikes and were able to push hard. Vale had already shown he's feeling good on the dry when he set the fastest time in FP3. His pace has been very fast in all of today's sessions and his fourth position on the grid is not a bad result. today we were able to compare almost all the tyre choices and we have a bit of an idea about which tyres both riders will use in tomorrow's race. We'll continue to work tonight to see if we can find a way to fine-tune the balance of the bikes and find some extra time in some parts of the track. Here the weather can play a big role in the outcome of the race, so we'll have to adapt to whatever situation comes our way."