At Yamaha, we started the season so well with two consecutive victories at Jerez that we wonder how we got there, on the evening of the fifth meeting of the season. The double and then even the Andalusian treble are far away when looking at the disaster in Styria. Brno had warned that it would not be easy for the M1s. The Red Bull Ring has confirmed some rather worrying weaknesses. When it's not the engine that needs to be watched like milk on fire, it's the brakes that fade. A situation of mechanical and dynamic crisis to which the Iwata firm had not accustomed us. Valentino Rossi makes a mention of it, raising the fantasy of the congenital weakness of an in-line four-cylinder on a track requiring top speed...
Valentino Rossi is the one who, through his regularity, even his wisdom, brings back more or less regular results in this crisis. And without really knowing technical breakdowns as sudden as they are frightening. So much for the pilot of a Yamaha than for the rest of the MotoGP peloton who discovered that they were rubbing shoulders with M1s who were likely not to stop at the slightest turn.
Tradition dictates that, at least on the question of the engine, we explain the difficulty of Yamaha to assert itself on a Red Bull Ring type track, by choosing the in-line four-cylinder architecture. Austria would be the ideal playground for V4s with higher horsepower and stratospheric top speeds. This would therefore be prohibitive. But this is not the opinion of Valentino Rossi.
A tribute to Suzuki that hurts Yamaha
Valentino Rossi wants to twist the neck of this reputation. And all the more so since there are Suzuki in great shape and high performance who drive in front of him with an in-line four-cylinder: “ the Suzukis impressed during these two weekends » begins Vale as he leaves Austria for Misano. “ They worked very hard and in the right way ».
The Doctor delivers the blow: “ they showed that the straight line speed problem is not the inline motor. They have more grip when accelerating and are generally faster than Yamahas. I was behind Rins and I saw that he could accelerate much faster. They worked well, we hope to improve ».
Meanwhile, at Yamaha , we manage a major valve problem, and we ask the drivers to compensate for the lack of power by braking harder, which transfers the general performance problem to Brembo who found himself without solutions on the Red Bull Ring…
