Fabio Quartararo was in charge of developing the new Yamaha M1 that the Japanese company developed around the engine that was designed by Luca Marmorini. The Tuscan engineer has integrated perfectly into the Factory Team system and cannot be considered just a luxury consultant, but rather an important player who has inserted himself into the fabric of the team with the staff coordinated by his son. Seeing Marmorini in the garage with headphones on his head listening to radio conversations is proof of certain changes in attitude.
This might seem like a secondary change, while it expresses a different approach of the Iwata company to MotoGP: part of the project (in this case the engine) is not entrusted to the Europeans, but the reinforcements are integrated into the matrix of the Japanese technicians to get the maximum efficiency in the integration between four cylinders and the chassis part. The 6.5 km/h more recorded on the advanced M1 compared to the standard one entrusted to Franco Morbidelli indicates that something, perhaps, is moving in the right direction.
The 2024 Yamaha M1 that Quartararo tested at Misano
Photo by: Lorenza Dadderio
The Frenchman carried out the first laps in the afternoon on a much revised M1 in its aerodynamic guise, while he was not surprising for the rest, showing many, too many, similarities with the bike that finished 13th yesterday in the San Marino GP, over 15 seconds from the Ducati Pramac by Yorge Martin.
![The Yamaha M1 with the 2024 aerodynamics tested by Quartararo in the Misano tests](https://cdn-7.motorsport.com/images/mgl/YKEaqZX0/s1000/bike-of-fabio-quartararo-yamah-1.jpg)
The Yamaha M1 with the 2024 aerodynamics tested by Quartararo in the Misano tests
Photo by: Lorenza Dadderio
The intention is to find more aerodynamic load on the front and, around a black carbon fairing, a series of appendages have appeared. The front wing protrudes from the rather small fairing and incorporates a conspicuous lip that precedes the airbox intake. The KTM solution, which has been approved, has set the standard, so the wing profile is unique, even in the front view you can see two ribs that separate the two flaps from the power nozzle.
Yamaha is oriented towards a design that was developed by Aprilia, but the characterizing element is that the mono-plane flap folds towards the hull, joining the other aerodynamic devices in the lanceolate part, in a cascade of elements that in the edge of the bodywork entry connects three usually separate parts.
![The 2024 Yamaha M1 tested by Quartararo at Misano: the front wing is a monoplane](https://cdn-6.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6AEQpoq6/s1000/bike-of-fabio-quartararo-yamah-1.jpg)
The 2024 Yamaha M1 tested by Quartararo at Misano: the front wing is a monoplane
Photo by: Lorenza Dadderio
The feeling is that Yamaha in the tunnel of the cent are doing a more integrated micro-aerodynamic work, so much so that the central wing (the Ducati has what is called in jargon “asola”) is made up of a biplane flap with a blow that is very inclined and works in synergy with the extension of the front wing. The diffuser also takes up the Borgo Panigale concept seen on the Desmosedici: the two rectangular vents are quite large, resulting in two ears that protrude from a very tapered fairing at the bottom.
While other teams are trying a square bottom with a large surface that can be useful at the start, when the lowerer makes the entire bike crouch to the minimum height, Yamaha still prefers the more traditional keel shape.
It is legitimate to ask whether Yamaha wants to proceed gradually in the discovery of the 2024 M1, allowing Quartararo to become familiar with certain solutions, having time to evaluate them without the judgments being influenced by other innovations. The negative experience at Misano just last year must have taught us something…
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