Japanese in crisis
The first GP of the 2024 season in Qatar reflected the period of strong crisis that the two Japanese manufacturers, namely Honda and Yamaha. The Japanese teams are struggling to find a good level of competitiveness like the one achieved in the past, with results below their standard which at the same time create tensions between teams and riders.
Quartararo impatient
The most emblematic example is that of Fabio Quartararoworld champion in 2021 with Yamaha but subsequently suffered an increasingly severe decline in performance, to the point that his date with victory is missing from the 2022 German GP. Over the course of last season, the Frenchman frequently asked for improvementscoming to throw ultimatum about the possibility of leaving the team. Even at the end of the first weekend of the season, 'El Diablo' did not hide all his disappointment, declaring that they were “further away than ever”.
It takes time
The situation is therefore delicate at Yamaha, between disappointing results and the awareness of total disappointment on the part of its rider. In the meantime, as happened last season, the team manager Massimo Meregalli calls for calmas stated in a recent statement to Sportweek in which he also underlined positive aspects that have emerged in the last few sessions: “Obviously we are not happywe are realistic and objective – He admitted – Fabio did everything he could do at that moment. We listened, but we need time. We are making progress: we have improved the top speed and aerodynamics of the bike, but we need to continue to progress and we have a lot of work ahead of us. We are disappointed, of course, but also satisfied because together we achieved what we could. The goal was to collect data and take a step forward after the sprint, where we detected a problem of rapid deterioration of the tire. This also happened on Sunday, but a little less than on Saturday.”
No magic
Meregalli therefore asks his riders for patience, while at the same time taking advantage of the concessions provided to Yamaha and Honda, also making a 'joke': “We are not magicians – he added – we changed some things; we know what to do and it takes time to get there. Fabio is working with the prospect of progressing. His work was really good, even though it was only the first weekend. Now the commitment is different: Fabio has always tried to win, but now he is working with the aim of creating improvementscollect all the information and test it in a busy schedule of tests.”
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