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Yamaha has a very long history of inline 4-cylinder 4-stroke engines. A more than typical distribution for the sports bikes from the Iwata manufacturer, which has based its MotoGP prototype on this type of engine right from the very first steps. The very first 4 in line for what at the time was the newly established top class category of the world championship, took its origins from the engine that powered the Yamaha YZF R7 in SBK, a bike that enchanted on the track with only Noriyuki Haga, who also made a key contribution to the development of the first M1.
The first version of that engine didn't even reach the full displacement of 1000 cc, but according to well-informed sources it stopped below the 900 cc wall. Even the very first example of the M1 was powered by a battery of carburettors, instead of by an electronic injection system. Injectors arrived shortly after, but while the M1 continued to excel in terms of chassis aspects, maximum power remained an Achilles heel of the project.
Biaggi managed to win two races in 2002, only to then switch to Honda under the colours of Team Pons. It was then Valentino Rossi who brought prestige to Yamaha in MotoGP in its golden age between 2004 and 2009, with a tradition then continued with Jorge Lorenzo and his three world titles between 2010 and 2015. Subsequently, the M1 continued to prove to be competitive, but since 2015 only one title has arrived with Fabio Quartararo in 2021 and in 20 years of development it now seems clear that the 4 in line is destined to give way to the V4s, as demonstrated by the rest of the starting grid.
The last card Yamaha must play to try to save its engine is called Luca Marmorini, a former Ferrari and Toyota engineer in Formula 1 and a great engineer, called upon to try and get the M1 engine to make a leap in quality before laying down its arms. But in racing, it always depends on who wins and although Yamaha wants to remain tied to tradition, a change seems inevitable in the medium term.
The engine for the 2023 M1 made an excellent debut at Misano, putting more than a smile on the faces of Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli. The Frenchman decided to sign with Yamaha for the next two years as well based on the promises made by Lin Jarvis & Co, i.e. to have a competitive bike on par with the best of the lot, something that has just not happened in this 2022 season.
After the Misano test, however, Valencia and a second opportunity for the Frenchman to test the new engine arrived and the balance was decidedly less positive, with Fabio complaining that he hadn't seen any substantial steps forward and wiping out in one fell swoop the excellent sensations of Misano. At this point the scenario regarding the future seems very linked to what will happen at Sepang with the first tests of 2023, because then the engines for the season will have to be decided and if Yamaha fails to put together an engine at the same level of their rivals, it would become really difficult for Quartararo and Morbidelli to imagine fighting for the podium every Sunday (actually, every Saturday and Sunday, given the arrival of the Sprint Race).
Hence, the words of Takahiro Sumi, Project Leader of the Yamaha MotoGP project, take on a different meaning at the dawn of the Misano tests.
“I've been involved in the MotoGP project since 2021, now I'm the project leader of the Yamaha group and it's a fantastic opportunity for me. Of course, we know we need to improve the top speed on the bike. We haven't gotten the most performance out of our engine yet for many distinct reasons. For example, reliability, character. If we focused only on top speed, the engine would change its character by becoming too aggressive. So, we must optimize everything and it's not easy. We are working on all aspects of the bike, from the chassis to the aerodynamics, trying not to lose our balance".
Balance. This is the key that has allowed the M1 to remain at the top in recent years, but by working to increase the power of the M1, the result obtained was to overturn it to the point that only Quartararo managed to get the best out of it in 2022, putting all the other Iwata riders in a complicated situation.
“I don't know if our bike is more difficult now - said Sumi - but I can say that it is a bike with the same concept, which is different from that of our rivals. We still must improve our engine, get to its full potential. If when we succeed, we will realize that engines that are not 4 in line have greater potential, we will think about it and we will go in the right direction”.
The point is that in every category of motorsport certain technical solutions have a limit that eventually is reached by the manufacturer. Just think of Ferrari in Formula 1, which is historically linked to the 12-cylinder. When Renault began to dominate with Williams, at Maranello they decided to submit to the 10-cylinder solution, paving the way for the domination of Michael Schumacher from 2000. Introduced in 1996, that engine struggled quite a bit to establish itself at the level of its competitors, but it then became the benchmark.
When Ducati made its debut in MotoGP, it immediately decided not to try to develop a twin-cylinder engine, despite having immense expertise in the matter. At the time, the more 'Taliban' Ducatisti took very badly Ducati's choice to field a V4, which at the time was an L-shaped 4-cylinder characterized by Twin Pulse combustion, aimed at replicating the behaviour of a twin-cylinder with respect to the tyres. But history proved Filippo Preziosi completely right, with a bike that since its debut in 2003 became a benchmark for everyone in terms of maximum power output.
Sepang will tell us if continuing with a 4 in line against the ranks of V4s could be the winning move. Suzuki produced a fantastic engine this season, according to Mir and Rins a clear step forward compared to the past. So, there is some margin, but it remains to be seen how big it is. Abandoning that architecture to introduce a completely new engine would also involve a considerable economic effort for the manufacturer, in a historical period in which money certainly does not abound as in the past given the international economic situation.
In short, Marmorini is faced with a not particularly easy task, the job of allowing Yamaha to remain linked to its motoring tradition. If he fails to make the M1 engine make the long-awaited leap forward, the doors could open for a completely different era for Yamaha. It is the price to pay when the bar is raised impressively and in MotoGP this is exactly what has been happening in recent years. It takes just a split second to go from hare to pursuer but going back to being the hare could take a lot of time and effort, as Honda is learning very well the hard way.
