Mr. Akira Nishimura, Nishimura San, is certainly one of the most privileged journalists of the modern Continental Circus that is the MotoGP World Championship!
Indeed, due to his competence and his Japanese nationality, the man is received after each season by the three Japanese manufacturers. And, with the greatest deference, they answer all his questions and even reveal to him the underside of MotoGP, yet jealously guarded from the photographers' lenses throughout the year.
To our knowledge, this fact is unique and seems to be a long-term one, after a first edition last year (See here).
Still, this allows us to see and detail with precision what we glimpse during the season, sometimes at the risk (often) of receiving dark looks, invectives, and sometimes even having to delete photos on the spot. yet taken from the pitlane…
So here are some very interesting photos of the Yamaha YZR-M1, Honda RC213V and Suzuki GSX-RR.
Yamaha:
Unlike the previous edition, Yamaha did not hesitate to lift the veil on the current year's model, in this case 2019.
We can clearly see the tank with its small additional bulge…
Surprise : its 2019 chassis beveled and reinforced by a weld in the cavity under the reinforcement tube… reveals a welded triangle just below, never seen before!
There is no doubt that this is work on the rigidity of the framework, of which, obviously, we do not know the ins and outs...
The last photo shows the serial number and therefore confirms that it is indeed a 2019 model.
Since this model, which could be dated from the beginning of 2019, the M1 received a different saddle from the test in Brno (see here), many elements undetectable to the naked eye (new chassis, new engine), a holeshot device and maybe a external flywheel.
At Yamaha, we always evolve in small steps so as not to lose the strong point of the M1: its speed in cornering. It should also be noted that we are starting to have the same attitude at Suzuki, the other brand using an in-line 4-cylinder in MotoGP…
The interview with Mr. Takahiro Sumi, MotoGP Project Leader, obviously in Japanese, is also extremely interesting. Monsieur also explains the contribution of Fabio Quartararo to the performance of the factory team, as well as the specific problems encountered by Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi, and their two different approaches.
To stay on the technical side, these passages are particularly explicit.
“Yamaha’s top speed was slower than ever. This was so important that it made flying difficult. I was annoyed, because with current regulations the engine specifications cannot be changed. It's not easy to get a power increase. We are therefore constantly working to improve settings and robustness, and we have fought hard to win on tracks where differences in top speed are not a negative factor. »
“Struggling with this year's engine which didn't have the highest gear, if you try your best to go through the corners quickly you fall into a cycle where the tires will be ruined by that. How to do this without damaging the tires? We've spent almost a year trying to make progress on this, and for a while it's been getting a little better, but in the end we haven't got everything sorted yet. »
To be continued…
Source: mr-bike.jp
