Just two months ago Jorge Viegas, FIM president, put the spotlight on the future of the Mooney VR46. Valentino Rossi’s structure allied itself with Ducati on its arrival in MotoGP, but the premier class is experiencing an unprecedented panorama that could change from 2024. While the Italian manufacturer has eight frames on the grid, for the first time since the beginning of the four-stroke era in 2002, Yamaha will only have two motorcycles to play the season. The Japanese factory lost the support of its satellite team, the RNF (now associated with Aprilia), after the end of last year as they announced during the Italian GP last May.
So there was no time to negotiate and the roadmap at Yamaha went through intensify Crutchlow’s testing program. However, during the pre-season tests in Sepang, the need to recover these two mounts was put on the table. “We discussed how the lack of a client team could affect the season,” acknowledges Lin Jarvis, the brand’s top manager at grand prix in speedweek, about a meeting that they decided to address once they have started recover from your lack of speed and performance. That is not to say that the problems have disappeared in the M1, in fact with new rubber the frame is not competitive, but the absence of those two additional bikes could further enhance its disadvantages “on grand prix weekends”.
“When we need a set-up for different scenarios, our Italian rival (Ducati) has information and data on eight pilots you try different things. (The absence of a satellite team) It will not be detrimental to the development of the bike, but it will be detrimental to the races”, summarizes Jarvis, about a situation where Rossi can be his savior. Like the old days, but in a different way, Valentino can help grow the history of Yamaha. The Mooney VR46 is the only serious contender to fulfill the desire of the Japanese factory and despite the fact that its structure has a contract with Ducati for 2024 and in Dorna they have not made a move so far to change the situation, those words from Viegas could have said long before time.
yamaha wants “Come back with a satellite team as soon as possible, It’s an emergency.” The brand, in turn, is demanding, as Jarvis shows, since they need “a solution that fits the future strategy” to introduce the client team in 2024. Although they must also do their part. The “discussions with the VR46 have already started”, but Rossi’s team also needs guarantees. The nine-time champion will only consider the change if the M1 wins again (the last victory was with Quartararo at Sachsenring 2022) and although it will be difficult to break Borgo Panigale’s hegemony on asphalt, Yamaha also has a sentimental side: “ We work closely with them, they run our Moto2 Master Camp team, we have a very close relationship with Valentino; he rode a Yamaha in the World Cup for 16 years. Logic would say that it is a good direction to follow”. But if they will follow her, time will tell…
