No gain from new Yamaha engine, say Lorenzo and Spies

Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies reported only minimal improvements from a new factory Yamaha YZR-M1 motor they tested at the Catalunya track near Barcelona yesterday.

After repeated requests for better acceleration and top speed, Yamaha was hoping its revised spec engine would deliver some performance gains during the one-day test.

But Lorenzo, who finished eighth quickest, said he felt the old spec and new YZR-M1 engine were very similar.

The Catalunya race winner told MCN: “We tried mainly the new engine that in theory has more power but in reality we didn’t gain any advantage. It is very similar with some positive and negative points. In Aragon we will work on it to make it better but I would still like more acceleration and top speed.”

American Spies, who crashed out of the lead in Sunday’s race, showed why he missed a golden opportunity to score his first podium finish of the season after ending the test session in second place.

He set a best time of 1.42.143 to finish just 0.146s behind Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Andrea Dovizioso.

The former World Superbike champion told MCN: “We tried a different engine spec and played around with the electronics and some different chassis settings and it was good. The engine spec was a little improvement but you always hope for more.

 As riders we always want 10ks more on the straight but it definitely wasn’t worse, so it was something to learn and move on in the future. It will give them an idea of what direction to go.”

Spies also said the area in which Yamaha needs to improve is acceleration.

He added: “We are working on a little bit of acceleration. Our bike has got good top speed but it is the same story against the other bikes, we just need a bit more acceleration. We got a little bit out of it working with the electronics and the chassis to get more grip too. We didn’t go backwards and we learned some things and got the bike going a little bit better.”