There are many things we need to improve to be competitive in the fight and we are trying to figure out how. It’s not only the engine. We need to investigate and explore different areas.
So you don’t think engine layout plays a part?
It’s partly related to the torque delivery but weight distribution, chassis stiffness and aerodynamics also play a part. Lots of things are connected!
KTM’s Brad Binder recently told me he’s noticed that the Yamaha jumps out of corners better than it did in 2021, so how did you achieve that?
Basically, our strategy for 2022 was to improve the power but because the improvement was very, very small we tried to improve acceleration in other ways.
Not all the parts where we can make more power are sealed, for example the throttle bodies and exhaust, but we can also improve this area of performance by better turning, better exit traction and less wheelie, via the wings, so working on all of these factors actually helped us improve the acceleration area. Like everything in MotoGP, it’s a combination of many things.
Morbidelli nearly won the 2020 MotoGP crown on a 2019 M1 but has struggled since Yamaha changed its direction of development
Yamaha
The big thing in MotoGP now is stopping the bike and turning it fast, so the rider can lift up the bike to use the rear tyre’s larger contact patch to open the throttle harder and sooner, so it’s no longer about big, arcing cornering lines…
I think that during the last few years the riding style and how to perform in MotoGP has changed quite a lot, because we’ve introduced a lot of downforce. This helps the bike to turn [because more front load increases front grip]. Also, because we have much more downforce at the front we can use different static weight distribution to also improve rear grip. Now the front is more down so we can push the rear down more [for more rear grip].
Also there’s the ride-height device, which reduces wheelies, so we are much more at the limit of everything – of tyres, of let’s say human performance, and for that reason the difference between all the riders is much smaller.
Perhaps the biggest problem, especially for you, is that there are eight Ducatis on the grid, so can an inline-four be fast enough to get away from them?
I don’t know yet. As I said, there are many things that can improve our speed – engine power and many other parts. But now we first need to check how much we’ve improved for 2023 and the next step check is to see how much our competitors have improved, because if we improve but they keep the same performance gap then we will be in the same situation.
We’ve heard you’re working on four different engine specs for 2023…
Not really four different specs. We decided to develop in several different directions and now we are trying to finalize the final version for 2023, trying to combine all the good things together, but there aren’t really different engine specs.
Quartararo on his way to winning the title in 2021, when a strong start just kept him ahead of Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia
Yamaha
You’ve changed the weight distribution of the M1, so maybe that’s why Quartararo’s style is so different now – he’s amazing to watch, manhandling the bike, so unlike Jorge Lorenzo when he won the 2015 title on the M1.
With our bike we need to ride like that because we perform better, but the good point of Fabio is that he can brake really hard and at the same time carry a lot of speed into the corner. Also during the first acceleration phase, from the edge of the tire to the pick-up area, he is quite strong, so this is where he is better compared to the other Yamaha riders.
It’s true that when we are fighting with other bikes, especially like at the last few races, we cannot ride the Yamaha in the old way, because the Ducatis can easily overtake us on the straight and then they can stop us in corners. For that reason the first step is try to reduce the gap in top speed and also to learn how to perform more like our competitors. This is a process we are going through – changing the bike a bit and changing Fabio.
So you are trying to make the bike corner with V-lines more than U-lines?
Yes, but it’s not something that you can change in one day.
Yamaha introduced a new chassis late in the season, what this part of the process?
Fabio used this chassis after Misano [in September]. Actually the difference is very, very small. The performance is very similar, it’s just a matter of feedback – it gives Fabio more feel from the front in heavy braking. The difference in performance is very small but we decided to go in that direction, knowing that braking is so important for us.
Last November’s Valencia tests – a 2022 M1 and 2023 M1 stood side by side in Quartararo’s garage
Oxley
Aprilia and Ducati are using more downforce aero than anyone – diffusers and ground effect fairings. We know that the Japanese factories aren’t keen to go in this direction, because there’s no direct link to street bikes, but surely you have to go this way in MotoGP?
This is something that people who watch races on the TV sometimes don’t really understand: having a powerful engine isn’t only about top speed. It lets you decide the amount of downforce aero you can use, because of course the extra drag costs you some top speed, but with more downforce you gain a lot of grip and you have less wheelie, so finally your overall performance is better. That’s why we need more power to decide how to optimize this aspect of the bike.
So, will you use a ground-effect fairing for 2023, because it generates less drag than diffusers, but still pushes the tires into the ground for more grip?
This is the thing that we are trying to develop for next season but we don’t know when we will be ready for this kind of aero package. For sure this is something we must do because we are really missing something in this area.