--- title: "MotoGP 2016 – Yamaha: Victim of changes" canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/12/02/motogp-2016-yamaha-victim-changes/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Lewis Duncan" section: "MotoGP News" published: "2016-12-02T11:52:20Z" modified: "2016-12-02T11:57:23Z" --- # MotoGP 2016 – Yamaha: Victim of changes 2016 should have been another dominant year for the Movistar Yamaha team. After a 2015 campaign that saw both of their riders tally up 11 wins between them and secure all three world championships, it was hard to look past at least one of the factory Yamaha riders romping to success again this season. The only real concern on the run up to the start of the championship was the situation within the team. The relationship between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo had completely collapsed again in the wake of the Seapng incident, and the Spanish rider made no secret of the fact that he was unhappy with how the team handled it. When the season finally got underway under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, the pair were at each other’s throats at the end of opening free practice, both gesticulating to one another whilst waiting to do a practice start. Off track, amidst all of the contract rumours, the pair exchanged blows to the press, and a final zip across the lips in parc ferme after the race from Lorenzo to his teammate set us up for an almighty, season-long confrontation. ![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/12/516740314.jpg) However, though the feud reared its head from time to time, 2016 didn’t carry on how it started for Yamaha. Lorenzo predicted in the winter that the change to a unified electronics package and to Michelin tyres would yield different results from race to race. Indeed, the Spaniard struggled next time out in Argentina and crashed out of the race having quickly slipped out of podium contention, whilst Rossi was gifted second after the two Ducatis collided on the final lap. A week later, Rossi fell off in the opening laps while Lorenzo finished a distant second to Marc Marquez in the United States. All of a sudden, after just three rounds, the duo found themselves 21 and 33 points off the championship lead. After the events towards the end of the 2015 season, Rossi went into the winter a broken man and there were a few that thought that challenging for the title would be an impossibility. Whilst that may have turned out to have been the case, it wasn’t because he had lost his touch. That was evidenced in a stifling Spanish Grand Prix when, having sensationally snatched pole position a day earlier, the Italian managed his rubber to perfection to dominate for his first Jerez win since 2009. ![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/12/523816652.jpg) Yamaha went on to win the next three Grand Prix, Lorenzo in France and Italy, and Rossi in Barcelona, the latter two coming after titanic scraps with Marquez. But an engine failure for Rossi at home, avoidable had the team heeded the warning of his teammate’s blowout at the end of warm up, and a tangle with Andrea Iannone for Lorenzo at Catalunya unravelled the good work they’d done in the previous rounds. So by the Dutch TT, Lorenzo trailed Marquez by 10 points and Rossi was a further 13 behind. Lacking in the consistency of one year ago, it was a clear indication that, along with Honda, the switch to unified software was hurting Yamaha dearly. It was also becoming apparent that the 2016 M1 couldn’t generate heat in the front tyre in cold conditions, not helped by the harder carcasses Michelin were using. This proved detrimental to Lorenzo’s challenge as the season progressed, the wet races in Holland, Germany and the Czech Republic seeing him take just seven points from all three. The M1’s pitfalls in tricky conditions saw Rossi slide off and Lorenzo wobble around to 10th at Assen, whilst Marquez sailed to second. Three crashes in practice at the Sachsenring for Lorenzo demolished his confidence for the rest of the weekend and he finished the race 15th. Rossi ignored his pit signals whilst battling for a podium and eventually dropped to eighth, all the while Marquez cruised to victory. Silly errors and a bike that only worked in certain conditions were allowing Honda to romp away with the title, something that winter testing suggested shouldn’t have been possible. ![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/12/599221086.jpg) Mathematically still in the hunt, Rossi and Lorenzo’s fight was now realistically for second in the championship. A strong Austrian showing was followed up by non-score and a lowly eighth at Brno and Silverstone for Lorenzo. Rossi made it to the podium in the Czech Republic and the UK, holding out in an almighty tussle with old foe Marquez at the British Grand Prix. The Italian got his elbows out again a week later in San Marino, passing Lorenzo with a late lunge on the brakes into Turn 12 on the second lap which riled up the Spaniard. An awkward verbal exchange broke out in the press conference, and they locked horns again in Aragon, Lorenzo coming out as the victor on that occasion. Winning the championship was out of the question, but at the very least Rossi and Lorenzo could delay the inevitable. Marquez was 52 points clear ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix and in need of a nightmare for the Yamaha duo at Motegi to see him clinch the title there. That Grand Prix summed up their season perfectly: both should have finished on the podium, Marquez shouldn’t have won the title, both crashed out and Marquez celebrated his third MotoGP crown in four years. ![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/12/623027932.jpg) Two second place finishes in Australia and Malaysia saw Rossi secure second in the standings and beat Lorenzo in an inter-team battle for likely the last time in his career. The Spaniard, however, threw out one last parting blow to the Italian at the season finale in Valencia, dominating the entire weekend in his final outing as a Yamaha rider and quashing all speculation that his attention was elsewhere. Lorenzo’s win and a fourth for Rossi retained the teams’ title for Yamaha, small consolation in a season that should have yielded so much more. With Lorenzo leaving the team after nine years and heading off to Ducati, Yamaha enter a fresh chapter in their history and one filled with uncertainty. How will the Spaniard’s departure affect the team? Given that they banned him from testing the GP17 in Spain at the end of November, clearly they are worried. Can Vinales fill the void? Topping the time sheets on both days of the Valencia test certainly suggests that he will. And what of the relationship between himself and Rossi? Yamaha know all too well how sour things can get between Rossi and a teammate, but the Italian also knows that he’s no longer top dog in the championship. For many, this will be the greatest intrigue of the 2017 season. ![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/12/623393082.jpg)