The two days of testing this MotoGP off-season which took place in Jerez followed two other days which took place in Valencia. For Yamaha, the results were the same in both cases with official riders happy with the progress seen on the 2020 version of the M1. But also inhabited by the same feeling of unfinished business in terms of the redundant lack of top speed. They hope that this step will be taken for the return to school which will take place in February on the Sepang track. But Massimo Meregalli, their team director, already informs them that they should not expect miracles…
The winter truce was declared at the very moment when the Jerez tests ended. The MotoGP are therefore at rest but in the workshops, we will continue to work on the basis of the data collected on the tracks of Valencia and Jerez dedicated to the first tests of this off-season. So many meetings which showed Yamahas in good shape, with a Maverick Vinales cutting edge. A good omen for 2020? Or even…
Valentino Rossi thus has difficulty concretizing his good feelings on the timesheet, an adequacy that his teammate Maverick Vinales on the other hand accomplished perfectly. Still, the two teammates also agreed that Japanese engineers still needed to work on the engine. Because in the area of top speed, the Yamaha still lags significantly behind Honda and Ducati. “ Here in Jerez, we took nine or ten km/h », estimated Red after the test. Casa Particular in Viñales confirmed : " we again found that we lacked top speed compared to Ducati, around 10 km/h. So we have to work harder ».
Massimo Meregalli, director of the Yamaha MotoGP factory team, agrees. He explains : " As I said last week in Valencia, this test was to prove the new bike and confirm the results to date. And aside from the rain, the results were pretty much the same. »
« Maverick was faster with the new bike, so that's definitely a good baseline and starting point. But of course there is still work to be done before the first race », added the Italian. “ Looking back, we never managed to get there in the last couple of years as we tried new things. So it's promising. »
« Of course, riders want more and more, but we were able to gradually improve handling and top speed, and that's exactly what we wanted to achieve. We now need to improve the top speed and I am confident that we will succeed ", said Meregalli who however adds: “ we have to wait for the updates for Sepang, even if there will not be any big changes. We don't have the final version of the engine yet, but we are very close to it »
He finishes : " Based on what we achieved in Spain, I think there will be something new at Sepang. In Japan they already have a program to develop with the test team. Even if we don't know what it is. » A conclusion which shows that things have perhaps not changed that much at Yamaha…
Tuesday results:
Results of the two days of testing in Jerez:
