Yamaha is still working to return to the top in the MotoGP World Championship. The Japanese company is determined to get out of the crisis it has gone through in recent years and for which in 2024 it will receive advantages from the new concession system.
To this end, before the Grand Prix of the Americas, which takes place this weekend in Austin, the Iwata manufacturer has secured the renewal of Fabio Quartararo, despite the doubts surrounding the decision, at least until the 2026 season.
But the Japanese brand knows that something more is needed. As a result, Yamaha is undertaking an internal restructuring, with the hiring of former Ducati rider Max Bartolini as new technical director and the departure of Lin Jarvis, who will retire at the end of this season, as confirmed by the British leader himself in a conversation with Motorsport.com.
However, another aspect that is talked about a lot is the company's desire to return to having a satellite team that accompanies the official one and helps collect data to develop the M1, as its premier class rivals have done. One of the most talked about options is that the Pertamina Enduro VR46, owned by Yamaha ambassador and legend Valentino Rossi, will leave the Borgo Panigale brand to move to the Asian company.
But Uccio Salucci, team manager of the nine-time world champion, confirmed to Motorsport.com that his goal is to continue his current path, that is, with Ducati. Nonetheless, Yamaha say they are “optimistic” about the possibility of having a satellite team as soon as possible, as Lin Jarvis confirmed to the official MotoGP website on Friday in Austin.
“It's clear that our intention is to get four bikes back on the starting grid as soon as possible,” began Jarvis, ahead of what will be one of his last operations as team manager. “Not to be more competitive in a particular race, but because having more bikes on the grid means having more data to help the development of the bike. I think having only two bikes is definitely a disadvantage. So we are working on that, there are a lot of conversations , all confidential”.
“I can't say anything else, except that our plans remain unchanged. We are optimistic that we will be able to get this satellite team on the grid as soon as possible, but you will have to wait a while, like us,” he continued.
Jarvis subsequently refused to talk about an exact deadline for the conclusion of the matter, although he cited the Italian GP (31 May-2 June) as a probable conclusion date: “There is no timescale, but I think that everything should be resolved by Mugello. Usually, it's in June that we talk about the future, that we make investments, that we do something else… These are more or less the times.”
Lin Jarvis
Jarvis then focused on the plans for the future, which convinced Quartararo to stay with his current project, focusing more on future additions of human capital, like Bartolini: “We plan to return to our old winning level. We are fully aware how far behind many of our rivals we are right now. We know we need to change our approach a lot, and to do that, ultimately we're talking about people more than anything else. It's about skills, it's about people, it's about systems and it's about how in which we work, together with investments”.
Finally, Jarvis reiterated Yamaha's commitment to MotoGP and the new regulations, which will come into force in three years, wanting to dispel any doubts about a sudden Suzuki-style abandonment: “We are committed to this championship, we are finalizing the discussions on the technical regulations from 2027 to 2031 and we hope to sign soon for the new era. But there are only three years left, so we still have a lot of work to do, a lot of backlogs to cover, but we are on the right track”, he concluded.
Finally, Jarvis reiterated Yamaha's commitment to MotoGP and the new regulations, which will come into force in three years, wanting to dispel any doubts about a sudden Suzuki-style abandonment: “We are committed to this championship, we are finalizing the discussions on the technical regulations from 2027 to 2031 and we hope to sign soon for the new era. But there are only three years left, so we still have a lot of work to do, a lot of backlogs to cover, but we are on the right track”, he concluded.
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