Augusto Fernandes says Yamaha’s new V4 prototype needs “something different” after a challenging wildcard run in Malaysian MotoGP.
The V4, making its second Grand Prix appearance following its debut at Misano in September, made gradual progress, but was unable to match the pace of the inline M1 and rival V4 machines.
Fernandes was a whopping 25.412 seconds behind the winner in the sprint and +47.060 seconds behind the winner in the grand prix. At Misano, the differences were +27.893 seconds and +61.504 seconds, respectively.
The difference between him and the slowest of Yamaha’s full-time inline power riders was +7.7 seconds in the 10-lap sprint (Alex Rins) and +21.9 seconds in the double-length Grand Prix (Jack Miller).
Lap times: Malaysian MotoGP sprint podium and Yamaha rider
Lap times: Malaysian MotoGP podium and Yamaha riders
The V4, which is not yet running at full power, also remained at the bottom of the top speed chart, posting a top speed of 329.2km/h compared to KTM’s Pedro Acosta’s top speed of 341.7km/h.
Top speeds for Yamaha’s Inline4 riders ranged from 333.3 km/h (Fabio Quartararo) to 336.4 km/h (Jack Miller).
“It’s a difficult weekend for us,” Fernandes said. “We started the weekend worse than how we ended in Misano, so I felt like I had to rediscover what I needed to do to find my base again.
“The positive thing is that with all the work we’ve done, we’ve reached the same point we were at when we finished the race in Misano.
“So I’m struggling with the same thing and guys, after analyzing all the data over the weekend, we had the same problem at Misano.
“At least we have a clear direction to follow for the next test and the next race in Valencia, so that’s the only positive thing I can say.
“But we need pieces, we need something different, because we (setting) wisely did the best we could with what we had.
“So at least we have a direction to go in, but now we need engineers to work on new things and follow that direction.”
Fernandes, who qualified 23rd and last, spent much of the race battling Ducati test rider Michele Pirro, who overtook him on the final lap.
The Yamaha test rider’s next V4 wildcard appearance is scheduled for the season finale in Valencia.