In the box of the Yamaha satellite team there will be Cal Crutchlow to replace Andrea Dovizioso. The test driver analyzes the problems of the M1.
One year later he returns to the MotoGP paddock, on the same circuit as Aragon, Cal Crutchlow takes his place in Razlan Razali’s Yamaha RNF team to replace Andrea Dovizioso. He will compete in six races between now and the end of the World Championship, with the aim of collecting useful data for the engineers of the Iwata company, working to prepare a winning 2023 package. A meticulous collection of feedback in view of the next championship, when there will be only two M1 prototypes on the grid.
Crutchlow is not only a pilot, but also a nice extroverted character, ready to joke and to intimidate the media he finds himself in front of. It will be eight intense weeks for the British, struggling with six races, two tests, one company goal: to offer Fabio Quartararo a winning Yamaha for the next World Championship. The farewell of Andrea Dovizioso it is an opportunity to be exploited in this sense, but also the first question mark.
Crutchlow X-rays the M1
The veteran from Forlì was unable to push Iwata’s bike to the limit, and the same fate is for him Franco Morbidelli and Darryn Binder. Only the French champion is able to squeeze her to the maximum with her driving style, a situation that the Coventry tester is already well aware of: “I know why [le altre Yamaha] they are struggling. I think they have the Marc Marquez effect, the only one capable of riding the Honda. Yamaha is fighting to make the other riders fast on par with Fabio“.
In reality it is not the brand colleagues who are not going to the maximum, but it is Fabio Quartararo to accomplish something extraordinarily incredible. “I struggle where Dovizioso struggled, but I also know why. And Fabio does not struggle and I know why he does not struggle. Because he is not as slow as we are when cornering. So he doesn’t spin the rear tire. It’s like a vicious circle …“.
In the Misano test the first big news for 2023 have arrived, starting with a new engine specification that has allowed us to raise the bar of top speed on the straight. Although it will not be the only intervention to be made to next year’s prototype. “I don’t think Yamaha needs the fastest engine on the grid. Kids have to be competitive, able to fight. They can’t fight at the moment, so they need to be able to defend themselves on the straight and be able to overtake. I think they have already taken a big step forward and we will see what is next“.
