Just a podium in the first four races. To find a worse start than Yamaha in MotoGP, you have to go back almost 20 years, to 2003, to that terrible season that ended without ever tasting the joy of the podium. The only one in which the Iwata manufacturer has not taken a single victory in the MotoGP era.
Also in 2018, when the first and only affirmation came only in Sepang, in the 17th race of the season, the World Championship started with less difficulty, with Valentino Rossi on the lowest step of the podium in Qatar and with Maverick Vinales to conquer the place of honor. in Austin.
What should worry most at the moment is that second place in the Indonesian Grand Prix came in a rain-conditioned race. Although, to be honest, the M1 had been competitive even in the dry at Mandalika, as Fabio Quartararo had interrupted Ducati’s pole position streak that had lasted since last year’s Aragon GP on Saturday.
In “normal” conditions, however, the Sunday scoreboard is definitely worrying: the best result is the seventh place obtained last Sunday in Austin by the reigning world champion, to which he added the eighth of Termas de Rio Hondo and the ninth of Lusail. And this is perhaps the greatest alarm, because last year “El Diablo” won in Qatar and surrendered only to “sheriff” Marc Marquez in Texas.
Which in fact confirmed the sensations of the transalpine rider during the winter. “The others took two steps forward; we only took half a step”, he said at the conclusion of the pre-season tests in Malaysia, without hiding his disappointment at the absence of that step from the technical point of view that he had invoked at the end of 2021. Especially on the engine front, given that the difference in top speed over the competition is still embarrassing and the Circuit of the Americas race has made it more evident.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: MotoGP
It is therefore not surprising that Fabio for the moment has repeatedly returned the attempts to renew his contract expiring at the end of the year. During the Austin weekend, his manager made no secret of having had contact with other constructors. This was also confirmed by the person concerned, who during the press conference presenting the French Grand Prix this week said he intended to take time until the summer to decide his future, adding a lapidary: “We need to study the market carefully “.
That Honda is on his trail is no mystery, but Yamaha will have to do everything in its power to convince him to stay. Economically, but above all technically, because since the Jerez tests last November Quartararo has always reiterated that this was the junction around which his possible renewal would gravitate, even if in many, it must be said, we thought it was just an upside game . Fabio, on the other hand, had seen us for a long time and clearly in this moment he is not satisfied with the package that was made available to him by the Japanese technicians.
Despite this situation, the ranking does not even cry too much because it will reappear in Europe in fifth place in the world championship standings, 17 points behind the leader Enea Bastianini, with very guided tracks on the horizon such as Jerez and Le Mans, which could be the case for the M1. But this only makes clear how essential it is for Yamaha to convince him to renew: the other three riders of the brand – Franco Morbidelli, Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder – have put together the misery of 23 points in three, against his 44.
Numbers that show how Quartararo is the only one capable of making the most of the potential, albeit limited, of the M1 2022. This is also recognized by his colleagues. Above all from Dovizioso, who to get on the M1 gave up the ambitious Aprilia project, already winner in Argentina this year with Aleix Espargaro, then finding himself on a bike that by his own admission he is unable to exploit.
Andrea Dovizioso, RNF MotoGP Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
And according to the rider from Forlì, it’s not just an engine problem either: “For me, the lack of grip on the rear requires a certain way of driving. You can be fast, Fabio is fast, so I don’t want to say it’s impossible to be, but I think that you have to drive differently to do it “.
“With the Yamaha you have to be very fast in the middle of the corner, so spread out before you put in, let go of the brakes and do a lot of distance. But I am someone who has always tried to do as little road as possible, ever since I raced with minibikes. The window in which the M1 offers grip at the rear is so narrow that if you don’t drive like that, you can’t be fast. “
“This is a confirmation of how much in the current MotoGP, if your riding style is not suitable for the bike, you cannot perform. For me it is difficult to ride a bike without grip out of corners. But Fabio is good. He is behaving. well in these conditions since his MotoGP debut, because Yamaha’s DNA has always been the same over the last four years. At this moment, however, it is not enough for him to be with the best, because he is struggling more than last year. ” .
A clear concept, moreover expressed by the most experienced rider on the grid, who has always been known above all for his analytical skills, but who in the premier class can also boast 15 victories and have been vice-world champion three times. Which says a lot about how Fabio is really the only one able to extrapolate all the performance of the M1 right now.
A situation that is very reminiscent of that experienced by Honda in 2020, when Marquez was forced to miss the entire season due to injury and to find the top step of the podium he had to wait for the German GP 2021, when Marc began to find the shape, swallowing numerous bitter morsels in the meantime. For now, Yamaha is only walking on the edge of the abyss, but losing Quartararo would really risk being the definitive step towards the precipice …
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: MotoGP
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