The situation must be decidedly very serious at Yamaha . We know the Iwata firm is in difficulty this year and even a little more so since it has completed 23 races without success. There were the apologies Japanese to pilots who seem lost and expectant, they claim to be working tirelessly on the engine and electronics, but apparently that will not be enough. Because the General-in-Chief of the coat of arms, Lin Jarvis, is now requesting changes to the regulations. An admission of helplessness?
This is the latest initiative of a Lynn Jarvis who had asked the question of the Grand Prix program a few days earlier. We will indeed recall that he had castigated Moto2, guilty according to him of modifying the grip conditions on the circuits after their race. And therefore to disrupt all the work accomplished in previous days by MotoGP. A theory and a proposal which had not received the approval of Ducati.
Now the same Lynn Jarvis wonders whether it would not be appropriate to relax the rule on engine development. We know that to work on your mechanics, you have to be one of the new manufacturers who benefit from a certain indulgence to quickly get up to speed. Suzuki benefited from this and KTM like Aprilia are still in this case.
But Yamaha's track record prohibits this brand from any other consideration than that in force at Ducati or Honda. However, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports this statement from Jarvis in Buriram: “ I would find it reasonable for us to review these regulations on engine development. Suzuki had experienced difficulties in 2017 and Honda the previous year: this would increase the competitiveness of the field. In principle, the system of concessions is a good rule, but if, in the common interest, all the teams decided to expand it, we would be in favor ».
Obtaining such unanimity will undoubtedly be very complicated. But this cry for help is symptomatic. The same Jarvis continued on Motoracing: " The problem is that even if the initial error is small, just a few degrees, the more time passes the further you stray from the direction you should have been going. And it takes time to come back. Does Yamaha have men who know how to win? Yes, we showed it. The project and development of the motorcycle takes place mainly in Japan, where the group responsible is located. In Italy we have set up a headquarters with people working on electronics and overhauling motorcycles, but management remains at headquarters ».
« We tested a prototype of the new engine and it will be modified for Valencia. We are in a difficult situation: Vale and Maverick are struggling to find motivation because they, like us, are here to win the championship. Instead, we find ourselves in a crisis that we absolutely must emerge from ».
The same sweeps away the rumors of a new architecture of a new mechanic, like V4: “ our problem is not simply the engine, it is the chassis which does not create enough mechanical grip, it is the electronics which do not control acceleration that the drivers would like to be smoother, it is the management of the tires. But I guarantee you that we will still have an engine online next year. Is this a type at the end of development? I don't think so, I'm convinced we can be competitive, but we need to change it and improve it ».
A conclusion which fully confirms the words that Guy Coulon gave us yesterday...
