First of all, it should be noted that as we begin this new series of articles, we do not know what we will find (or not) at the end of the hours spent analyzing our photos!
So you are somehow experiencing at the same time as us this search for new elements on MotoGP observed during the post-GP tests in Valencia…
At Yamaha , we know that a new cycle part appeared, partly during post-Brno tests for the chassis, then subsequently for the swingarm. It was first praised by Valentino Rossi who wanted to use it from the Grand Prix at Silverstone, which he did, then relegated to oblivion, or, more precisely recovered by Jorge Lorenzo and Pol Espargaro.
What does it consist of?
As always, we are working on the different rigidities of the cycle part (longitudinal, lateral and torsional) by bringing in new elements and testing them.
At Yamaha, after a long period during which we made the chassis more flexible, it seems that we tried to follow the opposite path this year.
The swingarm, tested extensively at Silverstone by Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, is much larger.
Valentino Rossi was never enchanted with it and almost never used it, as he already suspected at Silverstone: “The Yamaha swingarm works more or less the same way. It tries to improve stability under acceleration and also gives more grip, but in the past when we changed the swingarm I felt more of a difference. I confirmed my feeling from Brno and this one is ultimately very similar, so I don’t know if we will continue to use it tomorrow.”
Place the photos on which we can note:
– On the right side, the V2 arm is much larger with the hole hidden by the carbon plate moved downwards. It no longer has the beveled shape at its bottom/front point.
– On the left side, we can note that the new swinging arm is so much larger that it now encompasses the suspension return axle and that, to dismantle it, we had to create an opening in the arm…
To be continued…
