It is not necessary to look too far back in time to recover all the criticism received by Honda in the development work which affected the RC213V. The mark of golden wing was accused of creating a motorcycle designed for Márquez Even in the smallest detail and what could be a problem, it went from conditional to present with the loss of the player from Lleida in 2020. HRC experienced its most bitter time in the World Cup, with a drought never seen before of 21 grand prix winless which was transferred to the next course and was precisely Marc, who saved the Japanese brand to return it to the top.
Then the one from Cervera managed to get back to a much more complex motorcycle for its piloting today, and within a brand in which none of its four riders (including Pol, Álex Márquez and Nakagami) currently manage to be competitive, the World Championship has already found a replacement for that glorious but frustrating time they lived together with Marc. Yamaha has picked up the ballast that Honda dragged, dealing in their ranks with a competitive driver who plays on the grid as current world champion and leader of the World Championship, to make up the reality that the rest of the members of the structure go through.
Quartararo is the undisputed leader within the brand of fingerboards. From Yamaha they believed in him and his final takeoff in the second course together with the satellite structure, finished convincing the Iwata senior officials to go out to fight the World Cup with the French. It was said and done in conjunction with a brand that, despite going through a sweet moment thanks to The devil, entered a negative spiral with the rest of mounts that has been accentuated in the current season. The problems of 2021 were not too relevant due to the circumstances. Valentino was unable to maintain the level required by the premier class at that time and an injury separated Morbidelli, leaving a scene that promised a leap in quality for the new year.
However, the reality is quite different. beyond that the M1 has become the mount that has evolved the least During the winter, only Quartararo is able to elbow the Japanese bike among the first positions of a grid that is going through its most even moment in history. All manufacturers aspire to everything and yet the Yamaha is only capable of doing it with a pilot who has not asked for anything extraordinary and it has simply adapted like a glove to the most docile motorcycle in the entire category. Something that Morbidelli achieved at the time by earning the official seat, despite the fact that he is now unable to emulate that performance.
The trick of the market
Far from blaming the factory directly, the Italian prefers to criticize himself. Morbidelli knows that he is not “in a position to ask Yamaha for anything” and the only thing he claims is “additional help to set up the bike”. “When I reach Fabio’s level, I will be able to ask for something”, he says resoundingly, about a performance below expectations in which Quartararo’s figure in the points box (102), triples that of the other three drivers together (33).
It is true that the Japanese firm has in its ranks a rookie like Darryn Binder, but surprisingly they have not learned the lesson with Valentino by joining Dovizioso in their ranks. For the Italian, “Yamaha is in a very similar situation to that of Marc and Honda for the last six years” and for now they can only wait and react ahead of time, in a market that, with the exception of Márquez, leaves all the seats free for the next course. And that’s where Yamaha can change the pattern.