Dani’s last stand
Pedrosa keen to end race career on a high at Valencia
Factory Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales have finally made a return to form during the last four races of the 2018 season. The pair now seem able to run at the front and, following Vinales’ Phillip Island win, are enjoying their best form of the last two years.
The improvement has come, not through new parts, but due to set-up changes on the M1 machine, changes both riders feel have taken too long to make.
Rossi explained: “We’ve modified the bike a lot, to try to make everything about the rear tyre. And in the end it has worked, because I was able to be competitive in all sessions at Sepang. In the last few races, we’ve improved the electronics after getting something new a few races ago, but it’s all about getting more mechanical grip now.
“But for me the problems are still there; they’re not fixed yet. We’ve worked well with the software, but we need new hardware from Japan, too. But we’ve spoken at length with the Japanese engineers and they’re confident that they’re bringing something for us to the Valencia test.” While the team still need to improve engine braking strategies, according to team-mate Viñales, it remains to be seen what will happen when Yamaha bring a new-spec engine to next week’s post-race test at Valencia. It will be the first time the riders will have tried the new bike this year (traditionally it happens as early as the Brno test in August) and both will be hoping the new engine will fix the Yamaha’s chronic acceleration issues and allow them to concentrate on properly setting up the bikes.
‘We’ve modified the bike a lot... it’s about grip now’ VALENTINO ROSSI