Fabio Quartararo repaid his promotion to the factory Yamaha squad by concluding the Qatar MotoGP test fastest overall.

Monster Energy’s new recruit had certainly been putting his Yamaha M1 through its paces this weekend if his hands were anything to go by. The 21-year-old proudly showing off his bruises and blisters while speaking to the media at the close of Sunday’s seven-hour session.

“I make weeks of motocross, flat track, whatever you do at home, when you get up on the MotoGP bike it’s another story,” the Frenchman explained. “I’m happy to have days off because it will feel really good for the hands.”

Quickly getting back into the groove on the final day before the break, Quartararo worked steadily through his testing plan - which Team Director, Massimo Meregalli confirmed included “new chassis, rear swingarm and new aero body package” in the hopes of assisting more top speed - before enjoying a time attack towards the end of the session.

Rocketing to the top of both the day-two times and combined results on his 52nd of 59 laps. He was the only rider to drop under the 1’54s-mark, with a fastest time of 1’53.940s, 0.077s clear of his closest rival, Ducati’s Jack Miller.

Despite the condition of his hands and a slow start to Saturday’s testing - which saw him finish 15th and just over a second off Aleix Espargaro’s early best - Quartararo confirmed he was ‘happy to be back in two days because I’m enjoying’.

“Honestly, I think that we made a mistake yesterday. As soon as I do, kind of a time attack, every time I put a new tyre, I find a little bit more the limit and then it brings me to find my pace faster.

“So today we make much more new tyre and improving the pace and compared to Maverick, straightaway his new tyre make unbelievable pace, me I need a little bit more time after the winter.

“It’s just great that every time we put new tyres, we improve the lap time but also, the pace is always improving so that’s something that’s positive that at the end of the day - our pace was really good”

When quizzed on improvements with the 2021 chassis, he replied, “Honestly, it’s difficult to say because we have not tried only the new chassis.

“We tried also a carbon swingarm, small parts on the bike, and yeah the feeling is great, of course - I make the lap time with that - but yes, some part is better some parts, I don’t know. Also the carbon swingarm is difficult to know - I make at the end, the lap time with the aluminium.

“It’s good that we have these two days off, to make a conclusion and see a little more the data but I’m quite happy because my comments to the Yamaha guys is quite clear. I think this is the main difference between satellite and factory, that I have a little more responsibility.”