Rossi: 2018 Yamaha will be based on 2016 bike
Valentino Rossi has revealed Yamaha will base its 2018 YZR-M1 on the 2016 frame following a troubled 2017 MotoGP campaign plagued by chassis problems.
Yamaha struggled all season with its chassis, with both Rossi and team-mate Maverick Vinales suffering in hot and wet conditions.
Several updates throughout the year produced mixed results, with a new frame introduced for the Assen race suiting Rossi – who won the Dutch TT – but not favouring Vinales, while both still struggled for pace in the wet.
A 2018 prototype frame brought in for the British Grand Prix proved to be much better in the dry, but still both riders lacked pace in the wet, while satellite Yamaha rider Johann Zarco on the Tech3 bike suffered no such problems on the 2016 bike.
Yamaha spent the Valencia and recent private outing at Sepang evaluating various 2017 chassis and the 2016 bike, with Rossi telling Italian radio in an interview that last year’s frame will form the basis of his 2018 challenger.
“The (Sepang private) test went well, we tried the bike with the 2016 chassis and we decided that the prototype from this season was worse,” explained Rossi on the Radio DeeJay program.
“We have to wait and see how the new bike will be.
“It will be interesting and the starting point will be the 2016 bike. Now it’s a crucial moment and Yamaha must make a leap forward.”
Rossi – who ended this season fifth in the standings – admits he did not like the 2017 bike from the first tests at the end of last year, and says Yamaha was wrong to continue with it.
However, the Italian thought he was simply tired out by this point of the year, and the strong pace of Vinales – who won three of the first five races in 2017 – led the Japanese marque to continue with the bike.
“The problem is that Vinales arrived and he was strong with this bike right away.
“I tried it and I didn’t feel good. I thought it was the end of the season and I wasn’t in shape, and we continued with that project but it was a mistake.
“We did a lot of research and in my opinion the bike didn’t go well where there wasn’t much grip and it was hot.
“The first three races we race out of Europe and there was a lot of grip, plus in Qatar the race took place in the evening.
“The trouble started in Jerez (when Rossi and Vinales finished a distant 10th and sixth).”