Yamaha: New satellite team ‘obstacles’ for 2024, ‘confident’ for 2025

If not, Yamaha Racing managing director Lin Jarvis is ‘confident’ of returning to four M1s on the grid in 2025.

For the first time in the ‘MotoGP’ era, Yamaha will be reduced to only its factory team (of Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli) this season, after RNF switched to Aprilia.

Long-running rumours of a new partnership with Valentino Rossi’s VR46 team were reignited over the winter, but the Italian squad insists it will honour a three-year Ducati deal that runs until the end of 2024.

It is not clear if that is among the ‘obstacles’ referred to by Jarvis, who was asked about the satellite team plans by TMCBlog.com:

“This year we will be without a satellite team this year. In one way, I don’t think it will be a big deficit, because it will allow us to focus purely on the factory bikes.

“We really need to make sure that we have a bike that will be fully competitive for this season and for the future, 2024 and 2025.

“We would Like to come back to having a satellite team, there’s no doubt about it.

“It’s complicated to explain the opportunities and the obstacles that we face. But if we can resolve some of the obstacles we might consider 2024.

"If not, I am quite confident that by 2025 we will have a satellite team again. So let’s wait and see “

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Yamaha ‘understands’ Valencia engine issue: ‘Everything is now clear’

Also at this week’s Jakarta team launch, Yamaha Racing president Takahiro Sumi was asked about the lack of performance from the previously impressive 2023 Yamaha engine at last November’s Valencia test.

“Unfortunately the result [at the Valencia test] was something different than we had expected,” Sumi said. “But after that we analysed a lot about the reasons. So everything is now clear and we are more prepared for the Sepang [Test].

“It was something that made the riders disappointed after Valencia… but now we understand more and are more prepared for Sepang.”

The new Yamaha engine will be on track against its rival machines during the upcoming Sepang Shakedown, for test riders, from February 5-7, then given to Quartararo and Morbidelli for the Official test from February 10-12.