The 2021 world champion was left bitterlꦿy disappointed when the prototype 2023 engine failed to perform at November’s Valencia test, despite having🎉 impressed at previous outings.

But Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow set an eye-catching top speed of 335.4km/h at the Sepang Shakedown eaꦑrlier this week, suggesting the Valencia ‘glitch’ has&n♏bsp;been fixed and Quartararo now "can’t wait" to try i༺t for himself.

“The wait i🍬s over!” said Quartararo. “This winter break was very long, but in a way that was good for me because it gave me time to train and prepare for the upcoming season. It will be a long one – we know this.

“We need to put in good work during this test to make sure we are ready for it. I‘m excited to try the 2023 spec a🦄nd to see what progress we made.

“I arrived in Sepang a bit ea🌄rlier and spent some time at the track during the Shakedown Test🍎. I heard and saw positive things, so I can’t wait to try it for myself.”

Yamaha has prepared ‘huge' number of items

Team director Massimoౠ Meregalli revealed that the engine won’t be the only new development on track in Malaysia with aerodynamic (also used by Crutchlow at the Shaked꧃own) and chassis parts also on offer.

“We have a good atmosphere in the garage after the Shakedown Test. It was a shame t♉hat rain cost us some time, so we hope for fully dry days during the upcoming test to get through all the testing items, e⛎ven though the weather forecasts for this weekend are not great,” Meregalli said.

“I'm impressed with the proa𓃲ctive work done by the Yamaha engineers over the winter: we have many things to evaluate♐ here. The number of items they prepared for this test is really huge!

“We have an updated chassis, aerodynamics, rear [swing] arm, and engine. I expect Friday morning to be used for the riders to get back up to speed af𒁏ter three months of no riding.

“After that, they have an intense working plan. It will be difficult to finish it all, considering the amount of time and tyres available to us as well as the weather conditions playing🧸 a key part.

“But we will try to get as much done ജas possible to start 2023 off in the right way.”

Morbidelli: This test is a fresh start

After a tough 2022, where he finished just 19th in the world champi♊onship, Quartararo’s team-mate Franco Morbidelli is looking to make a fresh start i꧋n Sepang.

“We are finally back together as a crew. This test is a fresh start, and you can feel the excite༒ment. The S🅘hakedown Test went well, so there is a positive atmosphere in our team. During the upcoming test I aim to show a good performance level.

“We improved towards the end of 2022, and now it‘s time to build onto that and make further steps. We have a lot of things to test in the next three days. We will work hard, as always, to m🌟ake a good start to the 2023 p🌱re-season.”

The Sepang test takes place from February 10-12.