MotoGP - One problem leads to another: Why Yamaha crashes in MotoGP races

While things had been going well for the Yamaha in qualifying recently—especially under Fabio Quartararo—they're now only going in one direction in the MotoGP races: backward. Aragon, Mugello, and Assen are three distinctly different types of tracks, but the M1 always encountered the same combination of problems. The riders feel helpless.

"We're having big problems in the races. It was the same here [at Assen] as it was at Mugello and Aragon," sighs Alex Rins . The reason for the slump in the Sprint and Grand Prix races is clear: "We're overheating the rear tire when leaning, and the electronics aren't able to prevent this sliding. It's so difficult to deal with as a driver. You can't prevent it."

The root cause of the overheating is the M1's lack of grip when leaning. This sets off a vicious cycle. "As soon as you get onto the flank, it's very difficult to get grip. On most bikes I've ridden here, you accelerate out of first and second gear and stay on the throttle. With this one, you're spinning the whole time, trying to manage it. As soon as you get to third gear, the tire is already cooking on the flank," reports Pramac rider Jack Miller . And the consequences of the overheating aren't only noticeable when accelerating out of the corner: "The fact that the right flank collapsed on corner entry was because the tire temperatures shot through the roof."

Given the ongoing development of the new V4 engine, the Australian comes to an unusual conclusion: "Engine power isn't our problem at all; it's the usable power. We have to keep the bike within the grip window, and that's tough." Rins also recognizes that this is Yamaha's clear weak point: "The temperatures come from the spinning tires. It's not that the other manufacturers and riders don't have this problem at all, but they can absorb the resulting slide."

Is there nothing Yamaha can do other than find more grip? Miller's teammate Miguel Oliveira suggests another possibility: "We're behind in terms of electronics. We're not the best at power delivery and preventing wheelies." When Rins talks about preventing skidding and Miller talks about wheelspin in the lower gears, it's obviously also about the type of power delivery. If this could be better controlled with the help of electronics, overheating could be reduced. "You should never underestimate how much lies in the electronic setup. It makes a huge difference," Oliveira reminds us.

As long as no solution is found for the problem, it creates another one. "If you try to change line or direction, the bike struggles to cope," Miller describes. Rins is even more impressive: "As soon as the tire becomes unrideable, you as the rider no longer have enough power to make the change of direction. The bike becomes a caravan, really heavy." So, in addition to the rear tire, the M1 also physically wears out its riders. It goes without saying that this isn't exactly conducive to pace and error rates. The Yamaha engineers urgently need to find solutions; otherwise, only cool conditions will help. But these are unlikely to be found in the coming summer races.

Due to the problems at Yamaha, even official MotoGP channels recently fueled rumors about Fabio Quartararo 's possible departure. Yamaha boss Paolo Pavesio had a clear response: