Has Yamaha made any real progress in solving last year’s problems with the Factory Spec M1?
Qatar was certainly a promising start, not only because of a win for factory riders Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo, but also because of the way they won.
Last season, the Textbook Yamaha win was about taking the lead in the early race and dealing with V4s that were supposed to block their top speed.
In Qatar, Vinales fought his way through from sixth place, while Quartararo dropped to ninth place before taking the lead in race two – despite the persistent top speed deficit, especially with the Ducatis.
Aside from a weakness in combat, Yamaha’s top priority for 2021 was to provide consistent grip both over a racetrack and in difficult track and weather conditions.
The results so far have been promising for the Yamaha factory team. Vinales and Quartararo both had enough grip to stay away from the field on the final laps.
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The Frenchman had problems with the rear tires the week before, which put him in fifth place. “Drive like a beginner, don’t play with the engine cards and don’t check the rear tires. I was in the hotel for three days and thought about why I didn’t use my brain while driving.”
The hot afternoon hours, the cooler nights as well as the frequent strong winds and dust also made for different grip conditions, but Quartararo, who won both races at last year’s season opener in Jerez, reserves the verdict on the 2021 M1 until the Portimao lap next weekend in front .
Although the then Petronas Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli von Quartararo was on the podium with the A-Spec bike at the 2020 season finale, the Factory-Spec trio fought hard over the bumpy track.
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Vinales finished 11th as Top Factory M1, 18.7 seconds behind KTM race winner Miguel Oliveira. Valentino Rossi was one place behind him while Quartararo, who qualified fifth, fell back to 14th place (+ 24.376s).
“We’ll see in Portimao in two weeks what was one of the most difficult tracks for us,” said Quartararo of the 2021 Factory-Spec Yamaha. “Aside from Franco, who has the 19 spec and is third, we finished 11th, 12th and 14th.
“This will be a moment when we will see the potential of our bike.
“At the moment overtaking is much better than last year because I feel the limit and know where the limit is. I felt so good when overtaking. I was able to brake so hard and hold the brake on the edge of the bike.”
“But let’s see in the other races.
“Last year I won the first two races in Jerez, the second by 8 seconds ahead of one stage of the race. So step by step. We drove twice on the same track [Qatar] So I’m confident with the bike. I have a feeling we can be quick [everywhere]but I don’t wanna tell you yes and then it’s no
“So this is a moment when I believe in our bike, but I can’t say if it will work [everywhere]. “
However, as of Sunday evening in Qatar, Quartararo had the feeling that the new bike only had an urgent technical weakness.
While Quartararo was celebrating his first factory win in the Monster Yamaha garage, he was filmed and said to Yamaha’s project manager Takahiro Sumi, “Thank you very much! Only one thing is missing, the front [holeshot] Device!”
“Ah yes, yes!” Sumi replied with the body language of an engineer who hears the request every day.
Quartararo and Vinales are currently in second place in the world championship, four points behind Johann Zarco from Pramac Ducati.