As expected, the livery of the two bikes – to be ridden by Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo for the 3rd straight year in the series – did not suffer too many changes, while the YZR-M1s did experience some technological tweaks. The powerplant of the bike was the one the Yamaha mechanics focused the most, due to the new engine regulations in the 2010 MotoGP (prolonging the life of the engine).
“The work has been concentrated in two main points, first of all the chassis, to improve even further the characteristics of our machine and especially on the engine, due to the new technical regulation,” said team boss Davide Brivio.
“Next year we will have only six engines for the whole season and this means that the engine must have a longer mileage, and this is where our engineers have concentrated most of their energies. The engine has to remain fast with good performance but must have longer mileage and this is not easy. The season will tell us if we have done a good job.”
Rossi and Lorenzo will both take the new bike to the Sepang track later today, along with the other teams that announced their presence at the Malaysian venue. Tech 3 Yamaha will also attend the testing this week, with WSBK champion Ben Spies debuting on the new bike alongside fellow American rider Colin Edwards.
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