Morbidelli backs up Quartararo’s engine fears, Yamaha ‘will investigate’

After finding improved performance with Yamaha’s first specification of its 2023 engine at Misano, Fabio Quartararo was left shocked at seeing no performance gains in Tuesday’s Valencia MotoGP Test relative to the previous 2022 engine, something Franco Morbidelli has since backed him up on.

Robert Jones

09 Nov 2022

Franco Morbidelli, Yamaha MotoGP Valencia

While new chassis and aero parts were also tested during the one-day MotoGP test, all eyes were on Yamaha’s newest version of the 2023 engine, which Morbidelli was left confused by.

Morbidelli, who had been in improved form over the final few races of the 2022 campaign, was expected to receive another boost in terms of top speed so that Yamaha can fight the likes of world champions Ducati going forward.

But that was not the case and the Italian has called for Yamaha engineers to find a fix quickly.

"We need to understand well why. I didn’t even spend much time on the new engine because the chassis specification I liked was equipped with the old engine” said Morbidelli.

"For the laps that I did with the new engine, what we were expecting to happen didn’t happen.

"I’m sure that the engineers will investigate more on that and they will come up with a solution for next year."

New chassis gives 2020 MotoGP runner-up ‘improved feeling’

While the new engine might have been a disappointment for the Italian, a new chassis on his side of the Yamaha garage left him pleased with the performance shown.

A chassis closer to the one Quartararo used, Morbidelli added: "I think I improved the feeling especially with the new chassis which is more similar to Fabio’s. I like that type of frame so that was positive.

Franco Morbidelli, MotoGP, Valencia MotoGP, 5 November

"I did a good improvement on the speed and on the pace but we need to work more for sure."

Can Yamaha realistically fight Ducati?

Should Yamaha fail to find more speed from their engine during pre-season then the characteristics of their bike that are strong, such as corner speed, are likely to leave Quartararo and Morbidelli struggling to fight at the front with consistency.

Asked about where the Italian manufacturer was using its rear ride-height device in Sunday’s race, Morbidelli claimed their advantage when it comes to grip and traction meant they had to rely on the device less than Yamaha.

Morbidelli stated: "They are using it less than us. I think they have a better grip advantage so that helps them."