It all started ten months ago, and now that we are just a few days away from the first MotoGP race of the 2019 season, the Petronas Yamaha SRT team is ready to fulfill its dream of being the first Malaysian team competing at the highest level of motorcycle racing.
After all the hard work the team has done during the preseason, team riders Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo will be facing a long and tough season ahead, but they’re feeling confident and optimistic that the work they’ve done so far, will surely end with great results for the Malaysian MotoGP team.
Morbidelli, on his second season as a MotoGP rider, was fast at every preseason test session, being a regular top 10 rider, and the satellite Yamaha YZR-M1, very similar to the one used by Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales, seems to be a perfect match for the young Italian talent that Petronas Yamaha SRT decided to secure for this season.
On the other side of the team garage, Fabio Quartararo is being tipped as one of the riders that fans need to be on the lookout. The Frenchman needed just three test sessions before surprising MotoGP veterans, and the second fastest time at Losail, on the last preseason test, shows just how fast Quartararo can be on the satellite Yamaha.
With the team in high spirits, the Petronas Yamaha SRT box will get the added strength of a world champion: Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 reigning champion, will be watching all their moves during the free practice and qualifying session for the Qatar GP.
Hamilton was invited by Petronas, who also sponsor the Mercedes-AMG F1 team, to visit the team during the MotoGP race in Qatar, but the British rider hasn’t confirmed if he will be staying for the race. Nevertheless, it’s good to see Lewis Hamilton continued interest on motorcycles after he tested in last December the Yamaha YZF-R1 with the official PATA Yamaha World SBK team in Jerez.