I think that's what Rossi was pointing out in his response to the apology. He mentioned that back in 2004-2005 Yamaha went all out in terms of developing a bike that would win the championship. They did well in 2004 and then Rossi crushed everyone in 2005(similar to Marquez in 2014). Yamaha was hungry back then and they were willing to do what ever was needed to achieve results.Originally Posted by madvlad
I remember back in 2004 when Rossi tested several bikes and chose the M1 with the least powerful motor. He felt it was the best overall package though, super agile chassis, a motor that was powerful but still able to put that power to the ground. Rossi went out and won the first race(Welkom) on that 2004 bike and forever changed Yamaha.
Now, Yamaha still have a very good handling bike but it's as though they forgot how to get the power to the back wheel in a smooth and tire saving manner. Again, I blame the compulsory software that everyone now run. It's not as user friendly and easy to use as the factory bespoke software was.
It does speak volumes for just how good the factory teams had their own software. 2015 for instance, factory teams were allowed 5 engines and 20L of fuel but were able to run their own custom software. Now, everyone get 7 engines(yes KTM, Aprilia, etc. get 9) and 22L of fuel and everyone run the same software and are only able to tune it lightly, with zero customization.
What we are seeing since 2016, is that yes it's helped to level the playing field. It's brought Ducati and Suzuki(this year) into contention for race wins and podiums. And it's brought KTM and Aprilia closer to top 10 results. Surely it has helped to offer more race winners and better racing. Which honestly is very good and something that was needed.
That's the pros, so what are the cons??
Well I think we've seen it also stifle the development of Yamaha considerably(and to some degree Suzuki, last year mainly). Yamaha opted to not do what Honda and Ducati have done(poach former Magnetti Marelli employees) to help work on the current software. They are now seeing come around and bite the them in the rear in a big way.
If it was completely up to me to run things. This is how I would have handled the compulsory ECU nonsense. For all factories that were made to run the 2016 and beyond(Ducati and everyone else that hadnt' won from 2015 were already starting to use it) compulsory software, would have been to supply each manufacture with a tech/engineer/software designer from Magnetti Marellli.
That's how I see things. If DORNA was going to straight dick everyone by making them run the compulsory ECU, then they should have made it mandatory that the manufacture of the ECU(MM in this case) should supply at least one person to each manufacture, that worked on that ECU software to teach them how to work with it. It's the only way to be fair and just. If you're going to make everyone run the same software. Then nip it in the butt quick and make the software supplier have a person go work with each manufacture. Would have prevented other teams from hiring former employees away to work for them.
None of all this matters though. As Yamaha have dug their own hole and now they need to get themselves out of it. I really think they need to just shelve the 2018 season altogether. And plan on making a massive breakthrough on their 2019 machine. I mean, yeah keep trying to get results and data for the rest of the year, because somebody has to fill up those 4th through 12th places. Not to mention the great data gained from not making it through Q1 and getting stuck in 11th for the other guy in Q2 has got to be paying big dividends. So big, that Yamaha have to issue an apology about it.
In short, it's going to be a painful race tomorrow for team Yamaha.
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