Yamaha has conceded that its new V4 MotoGP engine is struggling for power after the opening pre-season test of the year at Sepang.
The Iwata-based brand was in the headlines for all the wrong seasons in Malaysia, where it finished last among MotoGP’s five manufacturers and more than a second off the outright pace.
On the opening day, Yamaha’s star rider Fabio Quartararo broke his finger in a crash, forcing him to withdraw from the remainder of the test and return home for medical checks.
Yamaha’s problems were deepened on Wednesday when it elected to sit out the entire day due to safety reasons while it investigated the engine issues that affected both Quartararo and Pramac rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu.
While a solution could be found in time for the final day of action, the Sepang test marked a difficult week for Yamaha and the new V4-powered M1 it has built specifically for the final year of the rule cycle.
Speaking with MotoGP.com, Yamaha sporting manager Maio Meregalli stressed that he was satisfied with the performance of the bike itself, but admitted that the engine remains the weak link in its package.
“The area that we have to improve the most is power because the bike is rideable and also, the balance [is good],” he said. “The bike itself is not performing badly.”
Pramac team manager Gino Borsoi echoed Meregalli’s assessment, adding: “From a chassis point of view, the bike is quite competitive and it works very well. It is clear that we still lack top speed, but Yamaha is already working on it, so we are not worried.”
Pramac bike detail
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Yamaha completed several wildcard outings with its V4 prototype towards the end of last year, but test rider Augusto Fernandez wasn’t able to exploit the bike’s potential as the engine had to be run in ‘safe mode’.
Even in Sepang, Yamaha riders couldn’t test the new M1 freely, with a lack of spare parts and replacement engines limiting their running.
“As you can imagine, everything is new and we don’t have a lot of parts,” Meregalli explained. “We already knew when we arrived here that we have to manage these two tests, Sepang and Buriram, with the same material. So we exactly had the mileage [numbers] for each test.
“[In Sepang], we knew how many laps we could do, just because we wanted to be sure that we were able to do the next test in Buriram.”
Despite those limitations, Yamaha was largely able to complete its programme at Sepang, aided by the additional mileage it gained during the previous week’s shakedown test as a Group D manufacturer.
The Japanese marque is now working on an updated engine spec to boost its straightline performance, but it remains unclear when it could be ready for introduction.
“It was a productive test,” Meregalli said. “We were able to evaluate most of the parts we had planned. We selected those that were the main subjects for this test, such as the chassis, the swingarm and the aerodynamics. What we haven’t had time to do is fine-tune the settings, which we will of course postpone to the Buriram test.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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