Developing the title-winning machine: The Yamaha M1 explained

An underpowered 2007 bike was updated to become a title-winning machine in 2008, with Yamaha addressing their early 800cc teething problems over preseason. The Fiat Yamaha version of the M1 placed on the podium at all-but-one of the eighteen races undertaken this year (only absent in Assen, where the satellite machine used by Colin Edwards finished in the top three) , a testament to the development made in conjunction with riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

Fiat Yamaha Project Director Masahiko Nakajima gave a detailed presentation of the bike at the final race of the season in Valencia, explaining the changes made for 2008 to gathered journalists.

`We determined last season that our engine performance was quite poor, in terms of maximum speed and engine performance,´ admitted the Japanese director in a separate interview. `We had to concentrate the power whilst retaining good fuel consumption, so our focal point was taking away mechanical friction inside the engine. Power loss is quite a lot inside an engine.´

Nakajima also touches upon the differences between the 2007 and 2008 pneumatic valve motor -and how the M1 was adapted for a first run on Bridgestone tyres- in the accompanying video.

The 2009 version of the bike has already been debuted by the factory riders, at the first test following the season finale.