The world of MotoGP is a very competitive one. However, the factory teams have always been known to have an edge over the satellite ones, thanks to the reliability factor associated with the former. So when engines blow up of a factory team, that too of a brand no less than Yamaha, it is a big news.
Well, to put it correctly, Yamaha had two engine blowouts at Mugello. The first was Jorge Lorenzo’s mill which blew up as his bike crested up towards turn 1 on Saturday. The next was an even shocking blow up involving Valentino Rossi as his M1 released a trail of smoke after 9 laps into the race. Yamaha has admitted that both the engines blew up because of an electrical issue that made the units to overrev.
Post the race, which was ultimately won by Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha sent the engines to Japan where they were dissected open by their engineers. Here’s what the project head of M1, Mr Kouji Tsuya had to say about the issue:
“Valentino’s failure was caused by an accidental overrev in acceleration that occurred jumping over a crest with full throttle at the end of the straight. This failure was not in any way related to the mistake made by Valentino at the San Donato corner on the lap before. Mugello is one of the most critical circuits because of jumping over a crest with full throttle throttle on the straight, and engine rpm becoming higher. We have learnt from this incident and already modified the rev limiter setting, so it will be OK in Catalunya.”
Yamaha is a brand known for reliability and the incident in the middle of the race involving Valentino had left everyone in shock. Yamaha has also confirmed that the engines used by Valentino and Lorenzo in Mugello will only be used in practise sessions till their life cycles are completed.
