To celebrate the end of Valentino Rossi's MotoGP career, many have delved into the Italian champion's impressive statistics. Yamaha did otherwise by rewarding us with the Doctor's first spins on the M1!
The firm with three tuning forks has therefore published previously unknown videos, without in any way concealing the fact that the man from Tavullia did not have an easy time during the very first minutes of his arrival among Iwata's men...
On January 23, 2004, the day before the three days of testing at Sepang in Malaysia, Valentino Rossi had declared: “It's been over two months since I last rode a motorcycle. Knowing that everything is new, I will almost start from scratch. It will take me a day to get used to driving again, to appreciate the speed and braking distances. Obviously the bike will be different from what I was used to. Winning in the first year will definitely be difficult. It takes time to be competitive and win races. We will try to be at the best level for mid-season and then we will try to win races. My main objective will be to understand the bike and transmit as much information as possible to the engineers. By 2002, the M1 was more or less on par with the Honda, superior in some ways and inferior in others. During last year's winter testing between 2002 and 2003, Honda took a big step forward and Yamaha didn't seem able to catch up. (For Welkom) it will depend on how our tests go and Yamaha's responsiveness to potential modifications. Although we can't necessarily claim victory, we hope we won't be too far away. “
La first new video is his very first ride on the YZR-M1 on the Sepang circuit. For this 2004 pre-season test, Yamaha brought three different engines: a 5-valve Screamer, a 4-valve Screamer and a 4-valve Crossplane. The high-pitched exhaust note in this video suggests that the first test took place with a Screamer engine with four valves per cylinder, but unfortunately feedback from Jeremy Burgess were rather negative after this initial run: “The bike is not adjusted in any way, and the engine response is slow!”
The Yamaha team had prepared for this, and the problems were easily identified: “The connection between the throttle and the rear wheel is poor, so the power arrives late after opening the throttle”. The rear suspension was also a problem, although the handling of the M1 was already appreciated by the Italian champion.
At the end of the 58 laps completed, with a best time of 2'03.80, Valentino Rossi declared: “It's not as bad as I thought. It's not as bad as I thought. I think we can still make a good time, but it's going to be a bit difficult in the races, but for a first day of riding, my new machine behaved well. We will work tomorrow on the first chassis-engine adjustments. "
For its part, Jeremy Burgess confirmed: “ We didn't try to chase performance. It always takes a little time to regain good sensations. We only improved the driving position and made some minor adjustments. Tomorrow, we will apply the planned schedule and work in the right direction to improve the bike. “
The second unpublished video shows the test of the Yamaha YZR-M1 with Crossplane engine. The test machine, which was developed by the Japanese test pilots (Toshihara and Yoshikawa), was finally handed over to Valentino Rossi with a temperature rising from 31 to 41°. The latter completed almost 10 laps, before saying: " I really like ! In particular the throttle feel, the first part of the acceleration, before the torque arrives. ”
He then completed a total of 66 laps before declaring: “I am very satisfied with our work today. I had a good rhythm and the modifications made allowed us to obtain greater consistency. The suspension settings with the 16.5' Michelin front tire are satisfactory, but we still need to work on the engine. That said, I'm happy with what we've already done at this stage of testing. The other engine that I was able to try is good, but it will be necessary to accumulate kilometers before deciding on its potential. “
With a time down to 2'03.17 and such positive impressions, the choice was quickly made, especially as the new Magneti Marelli electronics offered a very large margin for improvement.
But for the moment, no one imagined a sensational victory at the opening South African Grand Prix of the 2004 season. Except perhaps one person...
The last of the three days, with an ambient temperature of 30°, Valentino Rossi went down to 2'02.75 during the 59 laps covered. It was therefore confident and impatient that he waited for the next test, two weeks later on the same circuit.
“We did a good job. LThe time we achieved is good for a first test, but the priority here concerned the tires and the chassis settings. I really enjoyed my first three days with Yamaha and I am very satisfied. There is still a lot to do on the engine and we will continue to work on it, but overall things have gone well. “
The chief mechanic of the outgoing World Champion, 'Jerry' Burgess was also quite satisfied with the progress of these tests: “ I think we worked well. We did enough to set a good time and acted according to the Michelin program. As for the integration within Yamaha, it was done in perfect harmony and now we will move forward and work on everything that the Yamaha development team puts at our disposal. “
As for Davide Brivio, director of the Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha team, he frankly admitted: ”I didn't expect we would be at this level so quickly. All our competitors will work hard this winter, but it's a good start to motivate everyone in the team and at Yamaha. “
We know the rest, with a victory for #46 at Welkom, a world title in his first year on the Yamaha M1, then three others in 2005, 2008 and 2009…
sources: Yamaha Communication Plaza, Yamaha-community.fr
