Yamaha makes ‘significant’ improvements but 'grip issues' still exist
Yamaha make major improvements in the engine but returning to winning ways will require more focus on the electronics.
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Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins confirmed their positive impressions of the 2024 Yamaha from the Sepang Shakedown Test by finishing the first day of the official Sepang Test in 3rd and 11th respectively.
“We have enough power”
The Iwata squad made significant inroads in the engine department as Quartararo was found clocking in consistent top speeds of up to 335 km/h, which is competitive with the speed shown by Ducati and KTM.
Yamaha’s racing director, Lin Jarvis, made it clear from the early shakedown tests that they have already selected their engine for the 2024 season and that power won’t be an ongoing issue. However, he did warn that “usability and acceleration” are going to be the areas of focus this season.
Aggressive technical direction – Its black to white
In the last couple of years, Yamaha’s main issues were that they weren’t willing to make bold enough changes to their M1, unlike their European competitors, who were willing to bring in bold upgrades at a rapid pace.
However, for this season Yamaha have signed two major engineers from Ducati in the form of technical director Max Bartolini and head of Aero department, Marco Nicotra.
And already from his very first days of working with the new recruits, Quartararo feels that the technical direction is much more aggressive compared to the approach they were used to last season. He feels that the new approach is exactly what he was looking for when he talked about the “European-style” approach.
“This is something great for Yamaha,” Quartararo said when speaking to the press. “We are working on it and I will not say that we will arrive soon, but the way we are working in the team with Max [Bartolini] and Marco [Nicotra] – new head of Aero at Yamaha – who is more into the aerodynamics, it is from black to white.
“I love it because in the Shakedown and it [the bike] was supposed to give us potential. To be faster, let’s say, but we had some technical issues and with Max, he said we won’t give up and that we have to find a solution to make this item work. That’s what we did.”
“In the past, if it was just with the Japanese engineers it was maybe too risky so we stayed away. This is the mentality that we have to have and play with the limit.”
“Years away” in the electronics
Despite obvious improvements to his Yamaha, Fabio Quartararo was quick to playdown title hopes as he felt that the electronics department was once again an area of concern for Yamaha.
Over the years, we’ve seen many races where Yamaha weren’t able to contend with the top positions due to grip issues caused by a lack of progress being made in the electronics.
The Frenchman was adamant that when it came to electronics, Yamaha are “years and years away” and that they will need to make some major improvements in electronics if they are to ever contend for the world championship.
“When there is no grip, which is typical for Yamaha, then the bike has zero grip.”
“When the grip is great, then the bike has a lot of potential. But when it is [in] low grip condition, we are really on the back.”
Although Yamaha may not directly feature as top contenders for this year’s world championship, the aggressive technical direction is exactly what the Iwata squad needs to continue making their way to the top.
