Lin Jarvis is the conductor of the Yamaha troops in MotoGP and, as such, he knows that 2021 must not be a false note. The distribution of tasks has changed in the pits, notably with a new pair of factory drivers. Fabio Quartararo joins Maverick Viñales in the official suit while Valentino Rossi will discover the life of a satellite pilot, even in a privileged position. Meanwhile, the M1 needs a direction for its development. Who will give it? Lin Jarvis responds…
The question of development in Yamaha is a sensitive subject. Because it poses another question: are the pilots listened to by Iwata engineers? Last year, Valentino Rossi had been clear about the situation: “ the Japanese engineers listen to us, but ultimately they only do what they want. For them, it is already clear what they are going to do ". So why argue? But you have to be persistent and making your voice heard also means asserting your influence.
In 2021, that of Valentino Rossi will be different and Lynn Jarvis make no secret of it. On crash.net, he defines the new situation as follows: “ development will take place under the direction of the factory team. Rossi will, however, continue to be an important part of the data collection ».
Lin Jarvis: “It will definitely be a change for Rossi”
He adds and in particular on the fact that Red will no longer participate in important factory team meetings on race weekends as a team driver Petronas : " it will definitely be a change for him. Although he still has full factory support and will be using the same bike as our factory team riders. Having more drivers on the track is important for us. And our engineers will definitely use the data from Fabio, Maverick and Valentino to improve the bike ».
We will recall that Yamaha also recruited a crash test pilot in the person of Cal Cruchlow. And the latter likes to say what he thinks while appreciating even less than the rest of his colleagues the fact of not being listened to by those who work in the shadows of the stands and the factory...
As for Valentino Rossi, we will remember that he is coming off the worst season of his career since he was out of the top 10 in the general classification and that he only has a one-year contract. He will team up with his student from the VR46 Academy but above all vice-world champion 2020 Franco Morbidelli. The Doctor has only signed for one year while his colors will appear on his half-brother's Ducati GP19 Luca Marini placed with Avintia.
