Before leaving the 2016 Yamahas (see part 1 et part 2) to move on to the first version of the M1 2017, it is always good to look at what Nakasuga was riding with at Motegi.
Indeed, very often, the Japanese driver has an evolution which will be tested later by the official drivers. Last year, this was the case with the rear-filling tank, which has since been abandoned.
However, this year, we didn't find much to eat; a priori, the only visible difference resided in a swing arm without any holes and reinforced in its front part (therefore more rigid) and a
mudguard with a strange system (sorry for the blurry photo) to correspond to front tire temperature sensors.
We also note a very slightly different lower fairing, both shorter and more profiled in its return towards the wheel.
Valencia Test : If Maverick Vinales only had Jorge Lorenzo's motorcycles, Valentino Rossi had three M1s in his box. Strangely, we saw the men in blue leaving to put Nakasuga's fork head fairing, adorned with his yellow number 21, into a truck...
About fairing, Yamaha had brought an innovative element to Spain to compensate for the loss of the wings but ultimately did not have it approved, as is now obligatory, with only one possible evolution during the season: there is therefore every chance that the 1 M2017s will look like two drops of water to the 2016, early 2017, minus the fins...
On what we can provisionally call the 2017, while waiting for the final version, we see that Nakasuga's swinging arm was not retained.
Conversely, the front tire temperature sensors are present.
We also notice a Mc Laren accelerometer
mounted close to the front wheel axle, as is often the case on development motorcycles.
Everyone was able to note a “dent” on the top of the fuel tank cover, corresponding to the 2017 engine. In this location is the air box serving as support for the ECU. The lenses only reveal carbon... Is it just a slightly bigger airbox for the 2017 engine?
The torque sensors reappeared during the Grand Prix tests, both for Lorenzo and for Rossi…
To our knowledge, they have never been used in racing.
That would be about it, if this photo did not allow us to notice one interesting thing: the fork tube heights, very different between the 2016 and 2017 versions.
Sepang Test : No official photo has been released. However, when we looked a little, this expansion caught our attention, because we might think we saw a reservoir whose filling seemed to be out of alignment. This may be an optical illusion due to the poor quality of the document...
In summary, Yamaha announced a more innovative 2017 model than usual, but unfortunately we are unable to comment on its content given the information in our possession... Roll on Sepang 2017!
Finally, before closing this file, and since we will no longer see them, here is a photo of the Yamaha fins, made with Rapid Prototyping 3D printing. Very thin, they could actually break, without even tearing off: We therefore continue to think that it is a great shame to have banned them and thus closed a very interesting area of exploration...
As a reminder, Ducati and Yamaha were for it, Honda and Suzuki were against it.
Article to follow with another brand…
