Old Foes, New Technology
Honda and Yamaha have been racing each other in the premier class since the late 1970s and they have shared the last 12 MotoGP crown between them. So, how do the companies go racing with their RC213V and YZR-M1?
Honda and Yamaha have dominated premier-class Grand Prix racing for the last four decades, winning 33 of the last 36 riders’ world titles and 35 of the last 36 constructors’ titles.
honda entered the 500-cc class in 1966, contested two seasons, withdrew for a decade, returned in 1979, and have fought for the crown of kings every year since 1983. Yamaha joined the contest in the early 1970s and have never left.
So far, the 500-cc/motoGP numbers look like this. honda: 20 riders’ titles and 24 constructors’ titles since 1966. Yamaha: 17 riders’ titles, 14 constructors’ titles since 1975.
honda are undoubtedly the stronger force right now, winning six of the last eight riders’ crowns, with Casey Stoner and marc marquez and eight of the last nine constructors’ crowns with the RC212v and RC213v. Yamaha’s YZR-m1 has been mostly in the doldrums since the change to specification electronics and michelin tyres in 2016. nevertheless, the Iwata factory is planning a major fightback for 2020.
HONDA RC213V
honda’S RC213v lookS aS If It haS baRelY ChanGed since april 2012 when the bike contested its first race at the dawn of motoGP’s 1,000-cc era. however, looks are deceptive; the engineering beneath the bodywork never stops changing. this is the 2018 iteration of the bike (no way would hRC strip this year’s RC213v for the camera) and there are major differences between the 2018 and 2019 machines.
honda have always liked to have the fastest bike on the grid. Good top speed alone does not win races, but it’s a matter of honour for hRC engineers. In recent years, ducati ruled the top-speed race, so last winter hRC finally did something about it, not only to restore its honour, but to save its riders from taking so many risks during braking and corner entry to make up for time lost on the straights.
‘this year we have more engine, which allows me to be safer in the braking area,’ says marquez.
We don’t know what hRC engineers did inside the 90-degree v4 engine to increase horsepower for 2019, to around 275 horsepower, but we do know they re-designed the front of the frame to help boost power. Instead of the 2018 layout, which has the air intakes wrapping around either side of the
frame and entering the airbox through cut-outs in the engine hangers, the 2019 bike has the air intake entering the airbox directly through the steering head, like most other motoGP bikes. Revamping the intake system, airbox, and fuel-injector bodies gets a better fuel-air mix into the engine.
ducati’s top-speed advantage has pretty much disappeared this year. but honda have paid a price for their faster engine. that’s usually the way it is in racing — when you find a small gain in one area of performance, you almost certainly lose in another area.
the frame re-design has changed frame rigidity, which has had a negative effect on the bike’s turning. both marquez and Cal Crutchlow say this year’s bike is more physical to ride, while Jorge lorenzo’s troubles only confirm that. that’s why hRC and marquez have been testing a carbon-fibre-coated frame to change flex for better turning.
‘I use a lot of banking angle, too much, because the bike isn’t turning,’ said marquez at the Sachsenring, where he registered a new record of 66 degrees of lean. ‘I use all this banking not because it’s my style or because I like it, but because I need to. With this [carbon-fibre-coated] frame we are trying to find better turning.’
YAMAHA YZR-M1
Yamaha’S YZR-m1 WaS the domInant motoGP machine during valentino Rossi’s first stay with the factory and the Jorge lorenzo years. between 2007 (when honda unleashed their first v4 motoGP bike) and 2015 (the last year of factory electronics and bridgestone tyres), the m1 won more races and world titles than honda’s RC212v and RC213v.
Yamaha have always prioritized overall performance more than honda, who usually build fast engines and hire fast riders to tame them. this is one reason why Yamaha is the only motoGP factory that’s stayed true to the inline four engine. It’s more difficult to get good horsepower out of an in-line four, but the engine can be lighter and more compact than a v4, which is a huge gift for chassis designers who can place the engine in the optimum position to create a well-balanced motorcycle that steers and handles. It’s also easier to route the exhaust and place the fuel in the right place to achieve a better centre of mass.
this concept worked superbly until 2016, when motoGP switched to magneti marelli-spec software and michelin tyres. In the last three years of the previous tech rules, Yamaha won 24 motoGP races; in the first
three years of the new tech regs it won 11 races.
the factory’s recent problems have been two-fold. first, engine/electronics performance: the m1 engine has always lacked brute horsepower, but until the end of 2015, the bike’s finely-honed factory electronics compensated with good traction and good corner-exit speed. the unified software’s lower-tech traction control isn’t so effective, so the bike spins its rear tyre out of corners, which reduces exit speed and compounds the horsepower handicap. It’s taken Yamaha ages to get on top of this because it was the last big team to hire boffins from magneti marelli.
the second issue is chassis performance: the m1 needs to carry a lot of lean angle all the way through corners to generate the corner speed that helped Yamaha win so many races, especially with lorenzo on board. this worked with the bridgestones but it doesn’t work so well with not so much with the michelins. now riders must be more careful in corner entry and gentler on the throttle because the michelin rear spins more easily and the spec tC won’t stop it spinning. this is why honda’s point-and-squirt concept usually works better: flick the bike into the corner at the last moment, turn with the throttle, lift the bike on to the fatter part of the tyre, and pull the trigger.