How Yamaha Destroyed Themselves in MotoGP

How Yamaha Destroyed Themselves in MotoGP
Yamaha was once MotoGP's dominant force, led by legends like Valentino Rossi. But now, they’re struggling to compete with Ducati, KTM, and Aprilia. What caused this downfall? From poor decisions to failed engineering, we break down the rise and fall of Yamaha in MotoGP-and whether they can ever come back.
Stay tuned to find out!
#YamahaMotoGP #ValentinoRossi #FabioQuartararo

[@ElGringoFuerte]

1:08 Yamaha stole Rossi? Its more like Rossi showed the middle finger to honda after they told him the bike was doing all the work

[@donaldhudson2235]

@@ElGringoFuerte That's because Honda deserved it. Honda's got A habit of saying we build bikes that win races. That's an insult to a rider however, you look at it, anybody that rides.

[@Darted08]

You forgot how bad honda is Yamaha still has more constructor points than honda last season

[@MotoGP_Zone]

Thanks for the comment! You’re absolutely right-Honda had its struggles last season too. I actually made a video diving deep into Honda's challenges in MotoGP, including their battle with performance and the struggles of their riders. You can check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/in7EoZ57pNCJn8Usi=v1xhoN8smPFkG4Dw

[@WestbrickFansGotNoBrains]

Maverick vinales was right and ahead of its time. Fabio - fast and flowing riding style. Maverick- point and shoot. Which yamaha does t have the grip for this style. Maverick was complaining and yamaha thinks maverick was joking. Before ducati or other european v4 engine starts dominanting. Fabio is able to win with yamaha with smooth anf flowing riding style. As for recent 3 years. European v4 point and shoot style have really improved alot and start dominating. So over past 2 years. Yamaha have been losing so badly so for past 2 years. Yamaha have started to adjusted the bike to mimic more of point and shoot style. Which was maverick riding style. Even fabio openly expressed that over 2 years he have changed hos riding style completely to be more of point and shoot. Yamaha did see improvements in lap times across all tracks with point and shoot style. But the problem is yamaha isnt improving as much or as fast as other european v4 brands. Now fabio is complaining about lack of rear grip for point and shoot style which maverick was complaining all along. Rossi was saying rhe same thing

[@bryanfarrow914]

The Japanese factories have always had the attitude of 'You're just the rider, we're the experts'. Honda was no better than Yamaha in that regard. Even KTM was suffering the same mindset of blaming riders for bike faults.

[@MotoGP_Zone]

You're absolutely right! The "engineer knows best" mindset has been a long-standing issue with Japanese manufacturers. Honda and Yamaha have both been guilty of not fully trusting rider feedback, which has hurt their development in recent years. Even KTM struggled with this approach before finally adapting by listening more to their riders. In today's MotoGP, ignoring rider input is a recipe for falling behind-something Ducati has capitalized on by evolving with their riders' needs. Thanks for pointing that out!

[@gomezgomezian3236]

You badly underplayed the CoVid effect. Whilst Yamaha and it's engineers were locked away in Japan in 2020/21, the European teams were in the wind tunnel perfecting their aero packages. And who was doing all this aero work? Formula 1 race teams. Wha? Yep, the F1 teams are limited in how much wind tunnel time they can spend. So they asked European MotoGP teams if they could do aero work for them ... OK, so really they spent most of the time doing development for their F1 cars, but they told the FIA it was for the MotoGP teams, and they did do an amount of work on the bike's aero development. (And the level of aero knowledge in the F1 teams meant that the bike's aero jumped ahead a decade or so with a minimal amount of work). So, net result? The Japanese teams returned to Europe to find that they were suddenly multiple years behind in aero development. And even if the European teams were to stop any further development, it would take at least 5 years to catch up (without the F1 resources that Ducati, Aprilia, KTM had).

[@MotoGP_Zone]

Thanks for the insight! You bring up a great point about the massive impact of COVID on Yamaha and other Japanese teams, especially when it comes to aero development. The restrictions in Japan definitely put them at a disadvantage while European teams, with fewer lockdowns and access to F1 expertise, kept innovating. I’ve seen reports on how partnerships and loopholes in wind tunnel time between MotoGP and F1 teams accelerated aerodynamic advancements, giving Ducati, Aprilia, and KTM a major edge. This gap in development really shows on the track, particularly in how these teams manage top speed, stability, and tire wear-something Yamaha is still trying to catch up with. You're absolutely right that catching up without F1 resources is a tough ask. I’ll definitely consider diving deeper into this topic in future videos! Thanks again for bringing this up-it's such a crucial part of the narrative that fans need to understand.

[@dediman47]

Yamaha has had problems since 2016-17, coz they weren’t listening to their riders. Vinales once said that during some tests in what I think was 2018, he tried the 2016 or 17 bike (I don’t remember exactly which year) and felt so much better, so he tried to convince the team to focus on that bike, but it was useless

[@stzw613]

KTM is somewhat broke.

[@giganoob1968]

Wrong, you are late news bro. Yamaha's test times at the current Sepang testing was pretty fast.

[@Zoliansanga1983]

If Yamaha couldn't keep up in the MotoGP, Bajaj the company from India will takes their place 😂😂😂

[@rudolfkallang4085]

yamaha became a hot news now, about honda,still silent.

[@RRFriction]

Total BS 🥱🥱🥱

[@wifi116]

KTM might not be back next year 😮

[@pc5845]

Don't know why you exaggerating things too much, there are still some details missing. First of all yamaha didn't steal rossi, even rossi itself decided to make a move, winning on another brand. Then, about 2016 case, it's not that yamaha lacked motivation to make changes regarding the tire issue, Michelin itself is designed towards v4s , thier carcass was totally different compared to Bridgestone, Michelin works well at straight line stability, hardbraking zones unlike Bridgestone which better on edge grip, this gives v4s better advantage..even if yamaha want to..they wont able extract maximum potential from that tyre like v4s do, the power pulses/transfer is different compared to inline..nd the characteristic , physics is totally different, different racing lanes, different braking style , adding to this the unified ecu case well, all things apart the biggest move from another manufacturer were the aero war, honda nd yamaha didn't saw it coming, becoming such a crucial part in racing, they entered the party so late, yamaha have another technical limitation over there, yamaha brought lots of aeros last few years..but the thing is, with wider layout of inline nd lacking power, yamaha won't able to put these massive aero packages unlike v4s which is shorter nd have more hp to pull, if these aeros are removed..it will be completely different story. 2021 was not that bad as described in video..the bike was still rideable, ya it lacks rear grip nd top speed, but it still turns better..even without these massive aeros, it was stable, yamah actually listened to thier rider..they actually developed a engine which pulls more top speed with thier new ex ferrari engineer massimo rivola, this causes the major reason for downfall..they have the top speed..it even hits close to ducs in sepang test last year..now its not the engine...its the electronics , chassis, they lost thier signature corner speed, agility. Even the fabio itself said this. Then its completely lost the development, but still last year, they made good updates , nd also there developing v4 parallel to improving current bike.

[@MotoGP_Zone]

Thanks for the detailed comment! You brought up some great points that definitely add depth to the discussion. Let me break down a few key areas: Rossi's Move - I get where you're coming from. Rossi wasn’t "stolen" in a literal sense; he made the decision to leave Honda on his own to take on a new challenge. However, from a competitive perspective, Yamaha’s move to secure a reigning champion was one of the boldest strategies ever seen in MotoGP. My intention was to emphasize how crucial that decision was for Yamaha’s resurgence, but I see how it could have been clearer. The 2016 Michelin Tire Issue - You’re absolutely right that the switch to Michelin heavily favored V4 bikes due to differences in tire construction, braking dynamics, and racing lines. My focus was on Yamaha's slower adaptation rather than going into deep technical details about tire characteristics. I didn't mean to imply Yamaha wasn't motivated to adapt but rather that the V4's natural compatibility with the new tire gave them an uphill battle. That said, your explanation of the tire physics adds important context. Aero War - Yes, Yamaha and Honda underestimated how quickly aero would become critical. However, Yamaha’s engine layout and lower horsepower limit how much benefit they can get from these aero packages. The bike’s wider inline-4 structure simply doesn't favor heavy aero setups like Ducati's compact V4 design. I didn't focus on this as much but definitely agree that it's a key factor. 2021 Performance - I see what you mean. 2021 wasn’t a complete disaster; Fabio Quartararo’s title win showed that the M1 still had strengths in turning ability and stability. However, compared to the other teams, Yamaha’s fundamental weaknesses-like rear grip and top speed-were still holding them back and became more obvious in the following seasons. My aim was to show how Yamaha’s ongoing challenges limited their competitiveness, despite Quartararo’s success. Recent Developments - It’s great that Yamaha has made strides with new engineers and improved top speed, as seen in the Sepang test. The mention of the V4 engine and ongoing development in electronics and chassis was included toward the end of the script, but I could have highlighted those updates more. Overall, my goal was to present the key turning points in Yamaha’s struggle without diving too deeply into every technical detail, but I definitely appreciate your insights. Comments like yours really help flesh out the full story for viewers. Thanks again!

[@ultimatephoenix5130]

yamaha is back dude can you see on 2025 test? he got 2nd place

[@Utopian_Futures]

With all Ducati-riders, all Aprilia-riders and all KTM-riders missing (except the rookies and retired test riders). 13-15 faster 🏍️ missing, wow what a surprise😂 Even the rookies and test riders are right behind them, within 0.1 seconds.

[@ultimatephoenix5130]

@@Utopian_Futures lets see the future.

[@WestbrickFansGotNoBrains]

​@@ultimatephoenix5130you really have to do you rrsearch before being so happy...😂

[@ultimatephoenix5130]

​@@WestbrickFansGotNoBrains Let Fabio Quartararo cook in motogp 2025

[@ultimatephoenix5130]

@ have you seen sepang test? yamaha is Improving so I'm right

[@gigi9467]

Kind of hard to care about racing when their bikes sell left to right! The whole idea besides the innovation is to race on sunday sell on monday right? Wrong that was in thr 70-80’s that dont matter no more. I haven’t cared about moto go for 20 years.

[@marcmarquez93ant]

Blud thinks rossi was an engineer

[@Recon6delta]

Man I feel bad for Fabio! What happened?!

[@donaldhudson2235]

You're full of crap Yamaha. Put Honda on the trailer in the 60s 70s and most of the 80s, Yamaha fell off the track. In the 90s and some of the 2000s but then Ross showed up and was doing ok then Yamaha fell off again. And Ducati didn't have much of nothing. It wasn't till just the last 18 years or so that Ducati got They're stuffed together. And for quartero The bike left him just like Rossl but now he may have something to work with. Yamaha was dominant, one back in the late 60s and 70s and parts of the 80s. You all are just young and just don't remember.

[@WestbrickFansGotNoBrains]

Where is lorenzo credit?

[@b0zz1380y]

@@WestbrickFansGotNoBrainsor stoner with Ducati?

[@donaldhudson2235]

@WestbrickFansGotNoBrains you are right my bad.

[@smith2781]

I’m 43 and I only remember Yamaha only dominating twice. First with Rainey and then with Rossi and Lorenzo. I know Fabio has won since but that was just a flash and look how quickly they fell back.

[@adri4689]

Biggest mistake? They didn't listen and did what Rossi told them.

[@bonifacionacionalsalinasjr4281]

what did rossi told them?

[@vaclavsedlacek584]

08přesně tak 😂😂

[@vickyromero9866]

To run in the front you have to be aggressive. Yamaha, not a chance. Reason, Rins has potential but he's secondary rider, Quatararo is good but he needs self reflection. And pramac team's, Miller is done, Miguel olivera is 2nd rider. So yes Yamaha needs a massive improvement it might take some time but I hope they'll be back. Same for Honda. What's wrong with these 2 Japanese manufacturers.

[@literallyhuman5990]

If you think Yamaha is bad, then Suzuki is the Devonian extinction

[@jacquesleconte8152]

I hope so as this Ducati motogp championship is crap, suzuki were doing well,. they need to return and kawaski - but it won't happen as worlds about to go tits-up

[@literallyhuman5990]

Kawasaki actually struggles outside of motocross. They had planned to end their wsbk program too. Kawasaki should've gone back to motocross and heavy machinery anyway

[@jacquesleconte8152]

@@literallyhuman5990 yes true and yet they have loads of money from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the motorbike division is almost just for fun, it's a shame what's happening.

[@adri4689]

Yamaha change. From winning bike to just a beautiful appearance shit bike 😂

[@Kaushik14348]

Yamaha engineer nic paint artist 😂

[@michaelandreas5508]

KTM leading the way?

[@literallyhuman5990]

They're a sinking ship. Their 2026 wasn't even guaranteed