The engine problem that prevented Yamaha from completing any running on day two of the MotoGP Sepang test was one it hadn’t experienced before, team director of the factory squad Massimo Meregalli says.

Yamaha discovered a problem with the V4 engine in Fabio Quartararo’s bike after he crashed on the opening day of the test. The crash broke one of Quartararo’s fingers and ruled him out of the rest of the test on medical grounds, but the next day Yamaha revealed it too would not be running on the second day, anyway, as a result of the problem that had been found.

Yamaha was able to return to the track on the third and final day of MotoGP testing with the issue, described by Meregalli as “unexpected”, addressed.

“More than ‘big’ it was really unexpected, unknown,” Meregalli told MotoGP.com during the final day of testing in Sepang.

“So, a problem that we never had and, for them, it was really important to understand. Luckily they were able and we are just finishing the test.”

Meregalli added that any disappointment felt by the riders at the lack of Wednesday running was also felt by the team, and that initially the hope was that they would be able to be on-track by Wednesday afternoon.

“At the end, they [the riders] had to accept,” Meregalli said. “We had the same feeling because we had a long list of items to re-evaluate, but at the end it was a kind of safety decision because this could really compromise maybe the safety and then we understand and agree. 

“Honestly, we hoped that they could understand early and we could restart in the afternoon, but the most important thing is that the problem looks solved and what we are not able to do here we will for sure do in Buriram in a few weeks.”