Marco Bezzecchi
Yamaha were forced to sit out the second day of MotoGP testing in Malaysia due to an undiagnosed issue with their V4 bike. It’s another blow for the Japanese giants after Fabio Quartararo’s Tuesday injury.
Having broken his finger in an accident, Quartararo had already ruled himself out of the test. But none of Yamaha’s other riders were able to run on day two.
Yamaha had six bikes on track when the test got underway, including Pramac rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu and development riders Andrea Dovizioso and Augusto Fernandez. But their garage doors were shut on Wednesday.
How worrying are Yamaha’s safety issues with the V4?
Quartararo stopped on track when he tried to ride again after his crash, and Yamaha couldn’t find the cause. That led them to pause their test in case the bike came to a halt in a dangerous place.
Yamaha also had problems with V4 during private shakedown
Yamaha’s full-time riders were able to take part in the shakedown at Sepang last week, a perk of the concessions system. Paolo Pavesio’s team have switched from an inline four engine to a V4, which makes this winter critical.
According to The Race’s paddock ‘sources’, though, Yamaha were already experiencing similar problems with their V4 during the shakedown, but these didn’t come to light because of the lack of media on site.
What impact will Fabio Quartararo’s injury have on his season?
At the time of writing, Yamaha are still hopeful that they can return to the track for the final day on Thursday, but there’s no denying that this has been a nightmare start to the new era.
Jack Appleyard, a reporter for the official MotoGP channel, added that the problem could be overheating. Their Japanese bosses are currently in ‘deep discussions’.
Yamaha issues could affect chances of signing Fabio Quartararo replacement
During the shakedown, news broke that Quartararo is joining Honda when his Yamaha contract expires. The Frenchman is publicly saying that he hasn’t taken a final decision.
But if the reports are to be believed, then Quartararo will surely feel vindicated by events so far at Sepang.
Jorge Martin is set to replace Quartararo, but Spanish outlet AS fear that Yamaha ‘won’t fare well’ in the rider market if their issues persist.
Assuming Martin has only struck a verbal agreement at this stage, he’s bound to have some doubts in light of recent developments.
Yamaha were prepared for the bike to be off the pace so early in its development cycle, but they weren’t expecting problems of this severity.
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