A new technical director, proven winning riders, a new customer team, a new test team and a new V4 engine: Yamaha is putting everything on the same card to get back on top of MotoGP as soon as possible.
Yamaha fans in the World Motorcycle Championship are legion, born of a reputation built over decades of great riders. Multi-year process – Roberts, Lawson or Rainey; and later Lorenzo and as the Sun King of MotoGP, the great Valentino Rossi. Yamaha is also the last Japanese brand to win the title in MotoGP before the ‘Ducati Avalanche’ that conquered everything.
It was in 2021 that Fabio Quartararo gave Yamaha his last world title, the last swan song before the Japanese MotoGP factories lost their importance in the world championship. You can write more than one essay about the whys and wherefores, but instead of looking back, look forward.
There is a saying that says: “The past is for learning, the present is for living, and the future does not exist.” However, this principle is not entirely true in racing. The first two statements are true, but the issue of the future goes hand in hand with the present in the factory race.
In an interview, Fabio Quartararo explained how Yamaha’s competitive loss began in a successful 2021 World Championship season.
In 2022, Yamaha’s “collapse” was confirmed by losing the championship after being 90 points behind future world champion Pecco Bagnaia.
Disease – just one of many reasons
The COVID period is blamed as the main culprit behind the loss of competitiveness of Japanese manufacturers compared to Europeans. The point is that in Japan the restrictions were carefully observed, while in Europe everything was more relaxed, allowing the racing departments of the European brands to move quickly with the development of their prototypes.
Part of the answer may be here, but there were also several errors that had nothing to do with the epidemic. At Honda it was a major change in concept that was introduced at the end of 2022 – at Yamaha it was the loss of a satellite team to Aprilia. In the past, Yamaha paddock partners were basically customers who, when they found a better offer, simply left.
And this in a championship where the activities of the test teams are increasingly restricted and there is less and less time to start the motorcycle on the GP weekend. While Ducati was able to collect data after each session from the eight bikes they had on the line, Aprilia and KTM still had four, Yamaha’s engineers and technicians only had two reference points. And one indicator, that of Franco Morbidelli, was of little use.
The test driver process was another factor that from the outside looks like an obvious mistake. Jonas Folger was there only for a short time, followed by Jorge Lorenzo, who at first glance seemed to be the perfect choice, but in practice it did not work. Firstly because Yamaha tried very little and secondly because Lorenzo ‘gave up’ physically after his retirement. Signing Cal Crutchlow was a good move, but an injury he had not yet recovered led to his closure.
The “time” factor.
Added to these planning errors are the changes in time management that have taken place in MotoGP. To explain this, Marc Márquez’s statement about the different working methods of HRC and Ducati Corse is helpful. Marquez: “On Tuesday before the winter break I tested the Ducati factory in Montmelo; On Wednesday morning I received an email telling me what approach we should follow in the future after analyzing the test data. At Honda this would take days, if not weeks.
In my opinion, the end of last season already showed that Yamaha is on the road to recovery. You can see that in the performance of the riders, which were still far from what you should expect from Yamaha factory riders, but things were moving forward.
But what was seen in the song is just the result of the work that goes on behind the scenes. In this sense, the key is not so much in the repair of the factory team garage, but in the ‘front’ that has been given a change in Japan.
Changing speed doesn’t happen overnight. In this sense, 2024 was a test for Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins. At the start of the season, both knew the competition would come in small doses and over time. But as the year progressed, both experienced frustrating moments.
But the results in the last part of the season and especially in the last test gave them back their confidence. The famous light at the end of the tunnel begins to appear; green shoots are clearly visible.
Motivator Bartolini
In this regard, the key is Massimo Bartolini. Having joined from Ducati just this year, everyone agrees that Bartolini is the perfect man to bring Yamaha back to the top. Although he is not a race engineer, he has mastered every technical aspect of a MotoGP bike. He was already in power at Ducati. It is said that he is the one in the World Championship paddock who knows the most about Michelin tyres. His departure hurt Ducati deeply; even Bagnaia himself lamented the change. There were many efforts in Bologna to stop him, but Bartolini had made up his mind.
Another contribution of Bartolini is his infectious vitality. Everyone who has worked with him says that he is positive and works at 100%, and that improves the competition sometimes more than ten extra horsepower in the engine.
Yamaha’s return process also includes the revitalization of the satellite team, which allows engineers and technicians to collect data that is very important to them in order to get the most out of the base. The two riders in what Yamaha calls the Factory B Team are two veterans of a thousand battles, and maybe that’s exactly what Yamaha needs to get back from the back of the midfield as soon as possible.
Everything on one card
Yamaha’s “all in” principle also includes building a strong test team. Augusto Fernandez has been signed up as a test driver and continues to drive as a wild card for up to six GP events. Cal Crutchlow is still under contract as a test driver and when he recovers from his hand injury he is expected to work with Augusto. Joining them as a joker is MotoGP star Andrea Dovizioso – another great move for the new ‘Yamaha’.
And finally, Yamaha is already working on a new V4 engine that will make its track debut in the foreseeable future.
If you have read this far, it is clear how much Yamaha is doing to regain the position at the top of the motorcycle that it deserves due to its importance in the two-wheeler industry.
