Lin Jarvis went through an incredible number of unforeseen events early in the season. Events such as the dismissal of Vinales, the resignation of Rossi and the abandonment of the sponsor Petronas. Here in this interview with Lin, the story is how the facts are linked.
Lin Jarvis: “What happened to Vinales was completely unexpected”
“What happened at the GP Styria (with Vinales) was something unexpected. Obviously at Assen we had a request from the driver to cancel the contract and it was a strange thing. We had ups and downs in our relationship and in Germany his performance was absolutely exceptional, Maverick came last and his team-mate first. First we changed his crew chief, which Yamaha decided in agreement with the driver in order to achieve a more consistent performance. The race in Barcelona wasn’t bad, Maverick finished fifth and then there was the Sachsenring GP. When we got to Assen, it was clear that he wanted to terminate the contract because he didn’t trust the team and it was strange for us because we were leading the constructors’ and teams’ championship and with Fabio the drivers’ championship. Maverick was first in the Barcelona tests and second in the Assen GP. It’s hard to say that his performance was a disaster. However, the driver wanted to leave and we didn’t want to force anyone to stay and be unhappy, it’s never a good situation ”.
Lin Jarvis: “Yamaha opted for suspension and then separation. This created opportunities”
In Assen you have decided to split up …
“We agreed to end the relationship on a positive note. We could have ended it in the middle of the season or ended it professionally. It was right, Yamaha would have given him maximum support and the rider would have worked with” the best possible way with a positive mentality . We decided to end the season in style.
It did not happen…
“After the summer break we came to the Styrian GP and the race was interrupted by Savadori and Pedrosa after the accident. Everything went wrong for Maverick at the restart, he told us that his bike had failed on the grid and that he had to start from the pit lane, something like that can happen. What happened in the race was something extraordinary, I had never seen anything like it. It was something completely unexpected, we wanted to end the season with him, Maverick was important to our plans because we wanted to fight for the title with him. It was a surprise to us, I have never been in this situation.
Was it difficult to take the last break?
“The suspension was decided by Yamaha. We investigated carefully what had happened and were not satisfied with what he had done. This was the main reason; It was our sole decision. Then we talked to him over the weekend and unfortunately we couldn’t sort things out, the best thing was to end the relationship with a mutual agreement between Yamaha and the rider. Of course, we couldn’t end the season in style.
Lin Jarvis: “We talked to Petronas and VR46 at the same time, but we didn’t want 6 bikes”
Did you talk to Valentino about delivering your bikes to his VR46 team?
“We didn’t speak to him directly; he wasn’t the person involved. Our contract with Petronas expires at the end of the year with options to extend. We were of course interested in what Valentino was up to with his team. There were discussions with both of them, we wanted to treat both options equally and fairly. We didn’t want six bikes, four is the optimal number for us, so we had to decide whether to continue with our current partner or switch to VR46, both of which had advantages and disadvantages. In the end, Yamaha decided it would be wiser to continue with the current partner for a variety of reasons, including last year’s results.
Can Valentino Rossi still be a Yamaha testimonial in the future despite the VR46 team’s decision to compete with Ducati?
“I think that won’t change when it comes to Valentino as a testimonial. We have been in a relationship with him for sixteen years. If Rossi had decided to continue as a Ducati rider, that would have been a different story. The fact that he is not personally involved in the team changes everything: he is clearly the team owner, but that doesn’t change anything, he is not directly involved in the operation. We will continue to support the Academy and make our bikes available to his boys. We have a project with the master camp. We know Valentino will have the team with Ducati, but he won’t be directly involved so we can move on with him.
Lin Jarvis: “We’ll have to see how we can rebuild the young driver supply chain”
After the decision to move on with the Petronas team, there was a cold shower when the main sponsor decided to leave.
“The change of sponsor will of course change the situation in the team, especially because there won’t be any Moto3 or Moto2 teams. It’s certainly a blow and we have to decide what to do and how to respond in terms of the supply chain that would bring young riders to the Yamaha MotoGP team. As for Morbidelli, however, our intention with Frankie was to get him promoted to the official team in 2023, when everyone was free of contracts again. Obviously, with what happened there were some problems that we turned into opportunities. He had the opportunity to become official at Vinales in 2022 due to the end-of-year split, but the subsequent break with Maverick also gave us the opportunity to let him join the factory team in the middle of the season. We haven’t signed anything yet, but he will be on the Misano factory team ”.
Lin Jarvis: “We had already decided to promote Frankie, but an early promotion resulted in Dovizioso arriving in his place”
Originally, as you confirmed, the Petronas team was supposed to help young drivers grow. Now let’s talk about the arrival of Dovizioso …
“The original goal and the future of the Petronas team was to work with young drivers, but now there are only a few who are fast. We would have liked Raul Fernandez, but he wasn’t available. And many young drivers have signed with other manufacturers. So in the future we would have a rookie and an experienced driver on this team. We have made an agreement with Andrea that he will be on the satellite team in 2021 and then in an official M1 in 2022.
Are you still in contact with Bezzecchi for the position of rookie on this team?
“We are in contact with VR46 for Marco Bezzecchi. Of course, they would naturally like to add him to their team in 2022. So the current second driver has not yet been determined, but we will soon, from Misano. “
Is it definitely that even if Razgatlioglu wins the Superbike World Championship, he won’t go to MotoGP?
“Toprak Razgatioglu will not switch to MotoGP in 2022. He and his management have decided to stay with the SBK. If he wins the Superbike World Championship in a perfect world, getting him into MotoGP would be ideal, but it would still be too late. Even so, it seems to me that he doesn’t want to do it. If he were to become the champion it would be fantastic, if he would repeat the title in 2022 it would be even better. Why not consider moving to MotoGP in 2023? “