For years, team presentations have only been the time to see the new colors of the bikes, not the new bikes themselves, but in the case of Yamaha, that’s not the case either, as the graphics are practically identical to last season’s. To see what the M1 will really look like in 2021, we have to wait and see the tests in Qatar, which could hold many more surprises in store than today.
The real secret of 2020 was Yamaha’s MotoGP bike: criticized by all riders, it won half of the controversial races and the manufacturer’s title was only lost because of the penalty imposed for replacing the valves without permission.
Which M1 will we see in Losail in less than a month? Team manager Massimo Meregalli tried to answer.
“We want a simpler bike in all conditions – he explained – We suffered from a lack of grip at times and it was difficult to adapt the setup to the different tracks. So we tried to have a more balanced bike, some sort of link between the 2020 M1 and the one used by Morbidelli.
You seem to have worked overtime at Iwata …
“I can’t remember the last time Yamaha prepared so much new material.” May declared.
What have you been working on?
“First of all, improving the acceleration, because it can also help us with the top speed. For the same reason, we will have new aerodynamics for the tests in Qatar, which will also be used for cooling. Then we worked on the swingarm and chassis to improve driveability and we will have a new exhaust too. We didn’t touch the engine, we touched everything around it. “
So the chassis was modified with a view to the past …
“Until 2016 the M1 ran well on all routes – remembered Meregalli – and the M1 Morbidelli used last year had a similar chassis to that, so the direction for 2021 was to move closer to the chassis Franco used.
So much for the theory, because we have to wait for the practice …
“Unfortunately we couldn’t organize any tests in front of those in Qatar – he continued – The bikes were in Japan and Crutchlow should have been quarantined if he wanted to go. The engineers also took time to ship everything to Qatar, so there was no real shakedown even by the Japanese test drivers.
The problem is that we will only be testing on one track and Cal will have to deal with the M1.
But Maio isn’t worried: “When Lorenzo returned to the Yamaha in Sepang last year, he told me he found the same bike he remembered. Crutchlow drove it years ago, but I think he can work from day two without any problems. Losail will be a good test too as last year drivers complained that the M1 had trouble turning after releasing the brakes and the Qatar track is the ideal way to see if we got that resolved to have. “
If all goes well, Massimo is sure that Vinales will be the first to benefit.
“Sometimes I see the fire in Maverick’s eyes, the problem is that he easily loses it – he said – I see him changing his attitude towards racing and I will fully support him to bring him a balance because if he can’t drive the way he wants he risks losing confidence. In addition, he was not very aggressive at times in the first few laps last year and therefore missed the chance to achieve good results. We know the M1 does its best when you ride it on its lines. In the middle of the group he’s fighting, we’ll be working with Vinales right from the start of the race.