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MotoGP, Morbidelli: “What happened to the Yamaha engine? Same as me, it broke a leg "

Franco tried to play down the lack of improvement: "We mustn’t panic; the Japanese engineers are proceeding in small steps but they are inexorable. I'm not as angry as Quartararo, I liked the new frame"

MotoGP: Morbidelli: “What happened to the Yamaha engine? Same as me, it broke a leg "

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There were high expectations for Yamaha after the tests at Misano, in which the Iwata manufacturer’s riders seemed to have made a good step forward in terms of power. An improvement that was not confirmed by the day of testing in Valencia, in which the M1s appeared less performing than expected.

"It was strange, because we expected a greater increase in power from the new engine, but there wasn’t any", explained Franco Morbidelli at the end of the test. What went wrong in a couple of months? “The same thing that happened to me between 2020 and 2021: the engine broke its knee - the Yamaha rider played things down - I don't know what happened. You should ask the engineers. I am sure they will investigate to understand the reasons and come up with a solution for next year. The engine has always been a problem for Yamaha, but it doesn't seem like the time to panic now”.

Morbidelli keeps his cool, trying to look at the glass half full.

 “More than the engine, I'm worried about the feeling and the performance on the track. I think I have improved my sensations, especially with the new frame - Franco says - When they brought the new frame to Misano, I was busy testing other material, so we preferred to continue with the standard one. Now the engineers have introduced another one that is more like Quartararo's and I liked it. It gave me good sensations and I used it for most of the day, so I didn't do many laps on the new engines and I can't be as angry as Fabio. I like this frame and there has been progress on speed and pace, but we certainly need to work harder. "

Over the course of the season, Honda and Yamaha have repeatedly shown that they are struggling to keep up with the European manufacturers, especially Ducati and Aprilia, but they still don't seem to be able to find a way to reverse the situation.

 “I'm happy to have found the right feeling on the bike and to be back to riding close to my maximum levels. I'm sure the engineers are working hard and will do a good job during the winter – commented Morbido - We know the working method of the Japanese; they proceed in small but inexorable steps. We hope they continue to move forward. Let’s let them work and not panic”.

It will be a long winter for the Iwata manufacturer, but morale remains high.

"It has been a long season and we all need some rest – commented the 27 year-old - For me it was very complicated since I was chasing the others for 80% of the year and in the remaining part, even though I got close, I continued to chase. We all need to recharge our batteries and start over with the right motivation”.

 

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