Yamaha, a company that makes motorcycles for racing, has been working hard to improve its MotoGP bike. After the Spanish Grand Prix, they tested a brand-new version of their bike, called the M1, for the first time.
The 2021 champion, Quartararo, and a new rider, Alex Rins, tested the new M1 at Jerez. Quartararo finished 18th, and Rins finished 14th, after riding a total of 157 laps.
Quartararo felt that the changes Yamaha made to the bike had a big effect. He said, “It’s the first time when we test something new it’s not slightly different. The new chassis we tried is really different.” He also mentioned that they need more tests to fully understand the changes and decide what to do next.
He explained, “With the chassis, we are looking for turning [cornering] and we are trying to find it. I found a slight improvement going in but not really on the turning, it’s really a small step.”
Yamaha made many changes to the M1, including the chassis, aerodynamics, and electronics. However, they kept the engine the same as before.
Quartararo said, “We tested many, many things, we tested new chassis, new aero, new swingarm, new electronics especially. The engine is a test engine, so it’s the same as [the race unit].”
He also mentioned that they found some good things during the test, but there were also things that didn’t work well. They plan to make more tests in Mugello after the Le Mans race to see what they can improve.
Quartararo expects Yamaha to use some of the new parts they tested at the French Grand Prix in Le Mans next month. He said, “We will use a few items that we tested today because it’s always better to test in different tracks, and for Le Mans, we will use a few things that are not bad.”
