Fabio Quartararo explained he skipped mid-season testing in Portimao this week due to an intense run-in in the battle for the MotoGP championship.

Riders this week travelled to Portugal ahead of MotoGP's inaugural visit to the venue for the final round of the season next month.

Petronas Yamaha rider Quartararo leads the riders' standings after emerging victorious in Barcelona last time out and with six races in the next seven weeks on the horizon the Frenchman opted against testing.

"First it was to avoid any kind of injury, it was a bit risky two days before doing three races in a row," he told a news conference on Thursday.

"I was there six years ago; we will have a long FP1 and FP2 when we go there and also it's a different bike. So that is the reason why I didn't go to Portimao."

Quartararo was, though, surprised to see Yamaha allow three-time world champion and test rider Jorge Lorenzo only to ride a 2019 specification bike rather than a 2020 model to garner more information for the team.

"For sure, I think we need to do more tests in the season because Jorge tested in Sepang and in Portimao, so for me we need to improve that," he added.

"For me, it is so important to have the best details possible, but I don't know why he was testing the 2019 bike. The question is not for me, but better for Yamaha."

This weekend sees MotoGP head to Le Mans for Quartararo's home race at the French Grand Prix, where some 5,000 fans are expected to be allowed to attend.

Despite showing great pace race, Quartararo only finished eighth at the same track in 2019 but is hopeful of a better result this time around.

"It was a great moment to have my third win in Barcelona and I think that was the most important. We had some difficult moments in Misano, Brno and Austria," he said.

"It was great to be back at a track that I really like. Last year here was really positive, the result was not that great but, in the race, we showed our pace was really fast. If we check the lap time, we had the pace for the podium.

"That's really good, we hope for the same this year. I'm really confident, the weather doesn't look that bad so I'm happy and confident to be here."