It is a decidedly positive moment that Yamaha is experiencing at the moment. After the pole position and the place of honor conquered in the Spanish GP with Fabio Quartararo, the Japanese manufacturer is also putting itself in the spotlight in this Monday's test at the Jerez de la Frontera track, where its two riders were leading the timesheets in the second half of the day. Second behind Quartararo, Alex Rins can only draw a more than positive balance of this start of testing, showing himself particularly satisfied especially with the new engine developed by the Iwata company.
"What did I test? The new engine. It is good and more powerful. Yamaha worked on the top speed, which we lacked a bit, and we clearly improved by 2 km/h. It is a very good result and we will use this third evolution of the engine already in Le Mans. Fabio and I will have it in the next race, and I think the Pramac riders will too, if they like it," Alex recounted. "We also did some set-up tests. It went quite well and I improved my fastest lap here in Jerez by 5 tenths, so I can consider myself quite happy."
A more powerful engine was the priority for this test, but not the only thing the Japanese manufacturer needs to work on.
"With more power you ride better, you have better traction and we can say that it makes your life less complicated on the track. But there are certainly more points in which to improve, such as electronics, and these kinds of things," Rins noted, "I'm quite happy because, in addition to the extra power, the work we've done on the set-up allows me to have better corner entry."
Finding himself handling more power was not a problem for the Spaniard when braking. "Not in this case because we tried some solutions in the chassis set-up that helped me reduce the speed of the bike," he explained, "This was clearly an advantage and it worked well."
Did the 29-year-old miss anything compared to what he would have expected from this Monday's testing? "Not much. My physical condition was not the best after Friday's crash, so today we tried the most important things, the things that were the priorities. After Le Mans, we will do two days in Misano which will be useful to try more things, but I still did at least 50 laps," he replied.
It was a great way to leave Andalusia, after a weekend that saw the M1 resurrected and find the podium again with Fabio Quartararo.
"It's definitely promising," Rins concluded, "Fabio was very fast here this weekend and also today, so we'll see how it goes. The idea is to always be on the podium."
Quartararo: "It was a good test, but we should not be too optimistic"
Good feedback on this Monday's test also comes from the side of the garage occupied by Fabio Quartararo. Even so the French rider did not want to indulge in overly enthusiastic comments.
"It was a positive test, although it was very windy at the end of the day and it was very difficult to ride well. However, I am happy to have tested the new engine, which seems positive. We will see if we will use it or not, we will have to analyze everything, but in general it was a good test," said Fabio, who was more cautious in his judgments than his teammate: "An increase in top speed? It is difficult to say exactly because of the wind, however, it is true that the new engine has positive aspects. We will have to check very well how it goes, but I think it is good."
As Rins said, Fabio also confirmed that the purpose of this Monday was more to test the new powertrain.
"We tried a few more things, but just in terms of set-up. We only tried a slightly different seat, but it doesn't make a big difference. I had the same sensations I had with the other one. You can't see any difference from the data, but it seems to be going a little bit better in the wind tunnel, so maybe we'll keep it anyway," he said. "The straight is very short here, but the most important thing about the test was to have the same agility with the new engine that we have with the standard one. We need to make some modifications, but the feeling is pretty good. I think we still need a little bit of time to get some benefits from this powertrain but there are some positive aspects and I think it's great."
In addition to being more powerful, the new powertrain also seems to be a bit more aggressive than its predecessor.
"That was what I was saying: it was a little too aggressive at first touch and we intervened with the electronics to soften it a little bit. Also on the straight, although here it is very difficult to see since it is very short," El Diablo explained, "As I said there are some positive things, which we hope to feel better on tracks with a slightly longer straight."
A track like Le Mans could be.
"We are talking about having it there. That would be very positive," acknowledged Fabio, joined today at the top of the standings by his teammate Rins: "Today, for me, is a day when times don't matter. First of all, the wind was very strong and the track has a lot of rubber today. I also wanted to finish early because if you wait until 5:30 p.m., when the temperatures drop, you can make a good time, but it's not a really good thing because when you then go to another track you feel that the grip is not as good. Today we ended the day at 3 p.m., when the temperature was very high, and we lapped in 1'36"3 without pushing too much, because I didn't want to make mistakes and crash. It went pretty well."
Quartararo then confirmed that he had set his best time and top speed today with the new engine: "Yes, the top speed also depends on the new engine, but as I was saying for me it is a bit distorted by the fact that it also depends on how you come out of the previous corner and the fact that we have a lot of grip helps us. We'll see. I think the best way to see the reality is to try it on a race weekend."
Still, a good way to end what could be considered the best four days for El Diablo in the last three years.
"Today was a good day, but I think we are too optimistic about testing this year: for me it was just a training day in which to try the new engine," he said , "I don't want to consider myself happy or not. It was a good day because the pace was good. Especially in the morning, which we lapped consistently on 1'36. But we are going one step at a time and, as I was saying yesterday thinking about Le Mans, we must not be too optimistic and see how it will go: maybe we will get on the podium again or maybe I will finish 6th or 10th. We will give 100% as always."
Photo credit: Pier Luca Brunetti