Yamaha riders evaluated a modified bike from top to bottom this Monday in Jerez, but it is still far too early to claim victory in the Japanese clan. Fabio Quartararo struggles to draw up a definitive assessment and recognizes that the behavior of his bike has only evolved marginally despite the extent of the changes made.
“A long day”summarized the Frenchman. “We tested many, many things, especially a new chassis, new aerodynamics, a new swingarm, revised electronics. It’s difficult to draw conclusions at the moment. Obviously, we will have to do good analyzes now. There are positives, things that don’t work, unfortunately, but we will have more tests at Mugello after Le Mans, so that’s something we can modify and improve.”
The progress on the chassis tested this Monday is not yet significant in Quartararo’s eyes: “We’re looking for turning, we’re trying to find it. I saw a little progress at the start [de courbe] but it’s not really the turning point, it’s really a little progress. I have a little more feeling in the front, which I was missing, but it’s not huge. It was a little better but a lot is missing.”
“We have to force a lot, we lack a lot in the last sector whereas before we were super fast, we are no longer”lamented Quartararo. “I know what we can do in these two corners and we don’t feel good at the moment, it’s more a question of turning but it generates other things.”
“When you turn a little more, you can raise the bike so it becomes less aggressive. This creates a lot of other problems, which is what we are looking to improve.”
Rins no longer convinced
Álex Rins also tested this development, without seeing any real progress. “I did a lot of laps with a new chassis”explained the Spaniard. “The idea was to have a better turning and I didn’t really like it because I didn’t feel this better turning. We worked a little, we changed the settings for this new chassis but I didn’t I’m not 100% certain that it will be better for my riding and that I will have to put it on the bike for the next race.”
Yamaha had big new aerodynamics at Jerez
Photo by: Lorenza Dadderio
Aerodynamics can help improve the motorcycle’s behavior in curves, but the major new features tested this Monday have not brought any real progress on this front either. “A different feeling, not worse, not better for me at the moment”Quartararo clarified on this subject. “But sometimes there are things that I can’t feel when accelerating but you can see in the data. But my first feeling was neutral.”
When you see the bike with this new fairing, it looks spectacular. The wind tunnel data is very different but on the track, I expected a little more.
Here again, the observation was the same for Álex Rins. “We tested a lot of big new things today, things that need time and laps to be analyzed and compared”underlined the one who joined the manufacturer this year. “Honestly, I felt pretty good with some of them. I did a lot of laps with the new fairing, I did a lot of comparisons and honestly, I expected more when I saw it on the bike, more differences, more performance.”
“When you see the bike with this new fairing, it looks spectacular. The wind tunnel data is very different but on the track I expected a little more. I was able to ride better with this new fairing but it was only a tenth or a tenth and a half. We took a step forward compared to the basic settings.
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha team boss, said the brand had already wanted to evaluate this aerodynamic package in Barcelona, where test rider Cal Crutchlow recently did a test, but that the weather conditions had been too bad. The Italian nevertheless clarified to the official MotoGP website that he would like to be able to do it “certify as quickly as possible”Yamaha having the right to use three fairings during the season thanks to concessions, but this ambition could be undermined by rider comments.
Quartararo is for the moment “very far” of the 2022 time trial in Jerez. “But we are analyzing everything and I hope we can do something to regain the sensations of 2022”he clarified, showing his desire to continue the evaluations: “I think we’ll use some parts that we tested today because it’s always better to try them on different tracks, and for Le Mans we’ll use some things that I don’t think are bad.”
“I think it will be interesting to see my feelings on three circuits, especially because Le Mans and Mugello are very different from here, so it will be interesting.”
For Meregalli, there is no “big bug” on the Yamaha but “different things to improve”, which requires changes at all levels. Despite his rather mixed record, Quartararo remains encouraged to see Yamaha working hard to develop its bike to unprecedented proportions: “Let’s say it’s the first time we’ve tested a new thing that’s not slightly different, the new chassis we tested is really different.”
“In the past, we tested small things and this was a huge change for me to feel what it felt like on the bike. For us, I think it was really a first step to see what the right one is. direction but I think now it will take another test to see things clearly and get ideas of what to do on the bike.”
“Overall, the test was not bad, we took a lot of information and on the electronics, I also think we took a small step forward”added Rins. “Overall I can say the test was pretty good.”
Upcoming changes to the engine
One of the few elements that did not change on the Yamaha this Monday was the engine, even if the sound has changed since the electronics have modified the management of the traction control and engine braking. The manufacturer can change it during the year thanks to its concessions and intends to take advantage of this advantage as soon as it can.
“Massimo [Bartolini, arrivé en provenance de Ducati pour prendre le poste de directeur technique, ndlr] works on the engine since we have the freedom to evolve the engine during the year”Meregalli confirmed. “For the moment, we have kept the same engine. I don’t know exactly when we will see the first changes.”
“The plan was to try to have two developments during the season but there is always the objective at the beginning and afterward, it is not always easy to follow it.”
