‘Racing keeps getting faster? Or does it?’
Records keep getting broken in racing. It’s the nature of progress, and the point of it: bikes get faster, tyres more grippy, riders more specialised. The standards keep rising. Or do they?
Yamaha have just broken another record – for their longest winless streak since they entered the 500 class in 1972. Aragon brought the total to 23 races since Rossi won at Assen last year. Back in 1998, it had only been 22 when Simon Crafar for once got the better of rampant Mick Doohan, by more than ten seconds. (This, by the way, was followed by another 17 no-wins.)
The talk is all about what Yamaha have done wrong. Is it their stubborn adherence to inline fours instead of the class-norm V4? Is it because they lost Lorenzo? Because they’ve hung on to Rossi for too long? These questions miss the point. It’s not what Yamaha have done wrong that makes the difference.
It is what Honda and even more particularly Ducati have done right. It’s always hard to make direct lap-time comparisons one year to the next. Things beyond the control of riders, engineers and designers change. It could be the surface, the weather, tyres. Perhaps the rider has a tummy-ache. All the same, one desires steady improvement. This year, at tracks where direct comparison was feasible, Yamaha haven’t made progress. Both Rossi and Viñales qualified slower at Aragon, for example. At Le Mans, Rossi was slower; but Viñales fractionally faster. But last year, Viñales was on pole. This year, eighth-fastest.
So just what have the successful companies done that’s so special? It’s hard to quantify and easier to suggest that they’ve had some better breaks.
After all, for two seasons Yamaha have been busy putting out fires – trying to understand and then recover from chassis design errors that meant they struggled in hot or slippery conditions.
But Honda also had work to do, after a series of engine-design changes including an over-light crankshaft. Their luck came in having Marquez to ride round the problems as they were being fixed. Ducati had even more to do over an even longer time. It’s been just step by step for four seasons to get where they are now.
There’s a lot of lucky breaks involved. But at the same time (as with Ducati and clever-clogs boss Dall’Igna), you make your own luck. Maybe Yamaha should offer Ducati’s man a job.
‘So what have Yamaha’s rivals done so right?’