MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo may have finished day two of the Mandalika t💮est fourth on the timesheets, but he looked like on𒁃e of the riders to beat for consistent pace.

"I'm super happy about my pace " said the Monster Yamaha rider. "I think we are really strong. When we put our race tyre this afterno🐈on I did a really good pace, '32.4 with a really used tyre.

"Tomorrow I will make a race simulation, or a long run let's say. I will not make the full 27 la🅠ps but between 15-20 laps. I think it will be fast, but let's see. "

Alex Rins helpfully passed on the lap time calculations made by his Suzuki team, which also listed Quartararo as best for average pace (disregarding ti⭕me attacks) on Saturday.

"We have Quartararo first with '32.3, Pol '32.4, Márquez '32.5, Rins '32.6, so we are quite good," said Spaniard. "And then we have Viñales, Bastianini, B༺a𒁃gnaia, Oliveira, Nakagami, Mir…"

♊But as Quartararo knows, pace on paper do🅷es not guarantee victory.

Qualifying and the ability to overtake are also crucial factors, with the Frenchman current💯ly ♔;suffering in both areas.

"I can go super fast with used tyres, but I'm more worried about qualifying," he confirmed. "What I'm missing is the difference in [performance] between the used tyre and new tyre. It꧂ is much less than before and I don’t understand why."

📖Luca Marini, one of eight Ducatis on t🅺he grid this season, added his name to the list of 2022 qualifying contenders by leading the timesheets in Mandalika.

"When you know that there will be eight Ducatis, eight of the fastest bikes ever, it will be difficult. But what can I do?" said Quartararo. "I can just do my best and see what will happen. My concern is to make the Yamaha and myself better and try to always fight for the 💮top."

B𓆉ut the 'really big thing missiꦰng' from the M1 package remains top speed.

Closing the speed ♊gap had been Quartararo's main priority after struggling to pass the Ducatis last season, but seems to have fallen on deaf ears. The winter progress made by Yamaha has been matched by its main ൩rivals, leaving the M1's deficit unchanged at 9km/h.

"It's something really big that is missinꦍg, to be honest!" Quartararo sai🤡d of the top speed issue. "But if I'm focussing too much on that, my mentality will not be the same.

"I go for the maximum. If the bike is not enough, 🧸I'm not an engineer. So all I can do is to push myself to the limit and see what I can do to really fight for a championship and for victories. That is the most important thing for me... [but] to be honest we have not made the steps I expected."

The 22-year-old also ruled out a last-minute top speed breakthrough before the engines are homologated in𒐪 Qatar.

"It's what we have for the season. Maybe we can find so🔥mething [by fine tuning] but it's our standard, last year we were at average 9km/h [down], today we are at 9k. So, we didn't make any steps forward.

"I think I should not th🍒ink too much about this, just about my riding and try to fight for the best."

While Yamaha has continued its 'gradual' development style, Ducati 🌠and Honda have rolled out heavily-revised 2022 engines. Those 'new' engines are still being set-up to perform at their best, meaning the M🍨1's speed deficit could yet grow.

Quartararo's team-mate Franco Morbidelli was the next best Yamaha on Saturday, in twelf♈th. The last day of MotoGP pre-season testing takes place at Mandalika tomorrow.