After impressing the paddock in Sepang, Yamaha have slipped down the order on the opening day of the Buriram test. While they have Thursday to get back on track, Iwata technical director Max Bartolini has already confirmed that Yamaha will not impress as much as they did in Malaysia.
Last week, Ducati did not hesitate to admit that Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha were worrying them, as their performances at Sepang were surprising, and showed a clear improvement. The Japanese factory had more track time in Malaysia, however, having taken part in the Shakedown, and they still had to confirm this week in Thailand.
However, the opposite happened on the first day of testing. Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins finished one second behind Marc Marquez, who was first and far ahead of the others after eight hours of driving.
Max Bartolini, however, expected his team to fall back in the hierarchy, and he was not the only one. “The first day of testing was difficult for us, as you can see from the results, he confided in the evening in Buriram. We tested a lot of new parts. We expect it to be a difficult circuit for us, because our bike, as you know, depends a lot on grip. A problem we are trying to solve."
"Everyone expected things to be difficult here, engineers and drivers alike, He continues. We had the advantage of having more days, and having more time [at Sepang]. It's an engine circuit, and a circuit that depends on grip, so we have to find a little bit more balance with our bike than on other circuits. In any case, we have to reduce the gap, which was smaller at Sepang, because of the track conditions, and our advantage of three days of testing.
Yamaha is already working on solving some problems, however. The Italian engineer also details the main areas on which the brand will have to focus its development in order to reduce the gap on circuits such as Buriram.
"We also have trouble getting the tires to work, but I think that's the case for everyone, he adds again. We are still analyzing today's results. It doesn't seem too bad, but clearly we can do better."
“The performance in MotoGP is now very different, and we have to try to find the right mix. The DNA of the bike is the same, and we try to exploit our advantages. We have to go in the direction that favours traction, the combined brake, and all that, like the other bikes. But the cornering speed, maybe an area that we look at to improve the performance a little bit.” concludes Max Bartolini.
