Five Yamaha R1s will take to the track at Motorland Aragon tomorrow morning for the first WorldSBK race weekend of the 2021 season. Although everyone is happy to return to racing after such a long winter break, there is also some trepidation . While pre-season testing has been extremely positive, this weekend will be the first real opportunity to fully measure the effectiveness of the winter development program, as the Yamaha R1 will pit itself against its rivals in a race for the first time. times this season.
But what does it take to develop the Yamaha R1 into a race-winning WorldSBK machine? It certainly takes teamwork, with all of Yamaha's engineers, crew chiefs, mechanics and five riders working tirelessly during pre-season testing.
“Pre-season testing is not only an opportunity for riders to go as fast as possible, or for teams to work hard to achieve the best lap time, it is also about developing the Yamaha R1 to make it the most competitive machine possible in WorldSBK”, explain Andrea Dosoli, head of road racing at Yamaha Motor Europe.
The development process actually begins at the end of the previous season, with team and driver feedback gathered during post-season testing in Spain.
“We had a successful test in November in Jerez with the four drivers and we got very important feedback from them on their requests. We then took this information back to our headquarters at YMRE and began implementing this feedback and requests into our development program”, continues Dosoli.
“The development program must take several points into account. The first point concerns resources, such as labor and internal budget. Another point is the timetable, what we would like to introduce and when. We are developing a racing motorcycle from a production machine, so we have to keep in mind the technical regulations and their likely evolution. Finally, we need to understand where Pirelli, the official tire supplier for WorldSBK, is going in terms of development direction. »
“YMRE's responsibility is to develop a racing motorcycle from a production machine like the R3, R6 or, in this case, the R1, and then deliver the development parts to each of the three racing teams Yamaha in WorldSBK », concludes Dosoli.
“For teams, pre-season testing can be divided into three main phases”, explains the team leader of Garrett gerloff within the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK team, The Pearsons. “The first phase involves new development parts, confirming that they offer the expected improvement and assessing their impact on other areas of performance of the bike. »
“The second phase is to work on the main chassis components, for example, the chassis geometry, to make the bike operate in as wide a window as possible on the different circuits where we race. The final phase is personalized settings to suit both the individual driver and the characteristics of each circuit. It is in this last phase that we look for the last tenths of a second to be competitive during a race weekend. »
With so much to evaluate about the bikes as part of the ongoing development process, pre-season testing is a busy time for the team's mechanics, as explained Pete Bancewicz, the Pata Yamaha mechanic fromAndrea Locatelli with Brixx WorldSBK.
“For mechanics, the main difference between a race weekend and testing is the amount of work you have to do during testing. It's basically change after change after change, all day long. »
“At races we only have one bike in the box, but during practice we use two bikes to allow us to make changes on one bike while the rider is on the other, which Obviously speeds up the testing process. The mechanics never stop, it's very busy with the arrival of new parts and constant changes in the settings of the bike, but it's what we have to do, and we love it! ".
All that's left are the pilots. Their role in the development process is obvious; they must evaluate every change made to the bike on the track and then translate those changes into an improvement in their lap times. But the tests don't just concern the motorcycle, as explained Garrett Gerloff from GRT Yamaha.
“For me, pre-season testing is a bit 50/50. Half the time I'm working on myself and my riding style, trying to figure out how I can go as fast as possible on the track. The other half is working on the changes that have been made to the bike, evaluating the feeling, evaluating whether it's better or not, while trying to be as fast and consistent as possible. »
“It's a little difficult sometimes because there's so much going on in my head, but it's always interesting to do test laps and just work on yourself because we don't have not really a lot of time to do it during a race weekend. »
