It has been a difficult 2018 MotoGP season for Yamaha so far especially for an outright victory even though it heads the teams’ standings after seven races.
The upcoming Netherlands Grand Prix will complete a year for Yamaha and Valentino Rossi without a MotoGP win. The Japanese manufacturer has five podiums this year – but four of them have been third place finishes.
The consistency has helped it to the top of the teams’ standings with 165 points – 10 ahead of Honda and 33 of Ducati, but in a head-to-head battle, the bike still lacks to both its rivals who have collected six wins among them.
As per Rossi, the M1 is losing three to two tenths in the races which was also the case in the Catalan GP. The Italian knew he was to fight in the second group with the two Ducatis and Honda’s Marc Marquez much hard to catch due to the deficit.
“Unfortunately, I was not faster to them also in the beginning,” started Rossi. “I was good in the start because after warm-up I knew that I have to start fast enough to try and jump the second row.
“[That is] because I know that Lorenzo, Dovi and Marquez are the guys for the podium. [And] it was a great start. It was a great first lap, I also get Iannone but then from that moment, I had two tenths of disadvantage compared to them – sometimes three, sometimes two, but same for all the race.
“In the second half of the race, I was good. I saw always Marc more or less at the same distance but we need more speed. I am happy because it is three podiums in a row, but I finish maximum in the third place in this season.
“So, we are not strong enough to find for the podium. We need to try to improve some different areas to take this two tenths.” When pressed further to talk what Yamaha needs to do to cover up, Rossi felt that they have to work especially on acceleration.
“It is just not one thing,” he said. “I am sure that we have to work on acceleration because when I follow Ducati and Honda, it looks like in acceleration, the engine and also the electronics work very well to give a lot of power without a spin.
“For me, this is the biggest area but it is not just that because also Yamaha are always working on the weight distribution on the chassis and those areas because they trust a lot in that – so I think it is both,” he explained.
His teammate Maverick Vinales is also struggling to eke out performance from the bike whereas satellite rider Tech 3’s Johann Zarco on his 2016 M1 is proving a handful. Despite the troubles, all three riders are well bunched in the standings.
While Marquez leads with 115 points, Rossi is second with 88 followed by Vinales on 77 and Zarco on 73. Only 10 points separate Vinales and ninth placed Iannone (66) with Danilo Petrucci (71) in fifth, followed by Cal Crutchlow (69), Lorenzo (66) and Dovizioso (66).