Yamaha, are they Fast or Furious?

So, the MotoGP Championship has kicked off with Qatar hosting the first race of the 2022 season. With the first race in the bag for Ducati, Yamaha had a difficult initial run – but was this to be expected?

Quartararo made history in 2021 as France’s first MotoGP world champion after a hungry 6-year battle for the crowning spot on the podium. It was his first year with the Factory Yamaha team in place of Valentino Rossi. With big boots to fill, Quartararo secured 5 race wins and snatched the title with two rounds to spare.

Qatar was a disappointing start to 2022 for the hopeful Factory Yamaha team, with Quartararo finishing 9^th and Yamaha’s bikes occupying 4 of the bottom 5 places.

Quartararo had repeatedly pushed Yamaha to make engine improvements to his YZR-M1 package over the winter break following a difficult test at Jerez, where top speed was limiting.

Team boss Meregalli claims the team has worked towards improving top speed in response to the 2022 Ducati onslaught (8 bikes on the grid) with a focus “to gain top speed at the end of the straight” but claims “top speed is … not everything”. Quartararo was 10mph down in Qatar.

Considering this, motorbike engine development looks like it has stagnated for Yamaha, while Suzuki has improved by strides above the rest in the past year. Thanks to MotoGP’s in-season development ban, engine improvements are frozen until the end of the year.

“As is Yamaha’s philosophy, we didn’t make a big revolution”.

Further mods will have to come from aerodynamics and the likes. The 2022-spec factory M1 ‘benefits’ from a larger front wing but Quartararo explains “we clearly need the one aero package with less wings”. Something stronger will need to come from the team for the champion to defend the title.

Yamaha will have to choose carefully, as new MotoGP rules will only permit one mid-season upgrade – a rule born out of Ducati’s lead in aero work, in a bid to keep costs down.

After the first race, current standings are: Ducati, Honda and Suzuki in first, second and third. Despite a strong start, Ducati riders Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin crashed out on the first few laps of the season. VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi, LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez and KTM’s Miguel Oliviera also rounded up the race with a DNF. Can Yamaha rely on the mistakes of the other riders to defend their title?

We can’t wait for March 20 when Indonesia will host the second round. Available live on BT Sport. Highlights available on ITV4 on Monday 21^st. Who’s watching?