Yamaha insists it hasn't "gone backwards” amid win drought

Last weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix marked the seventh race in a row that Yamaha has failed to win, with Honda having taken victory in five of the last seven races and Suzuki and Ducati one each.

Valentino Rossi’s Barcelona triumph remains the most recent Yamaha win, the Italian admitting his squad’s losing streak has made him “a bit worried”.

However, Meregalli insists that Yamaha’s barren run is the result of other manufacturers – in particular Honda – making strides, rather than his team losing performance, while admitting that recent developments have not provided the desired gains.

“We haven’t gone backwards, rather Honda has made some big steps forward,” Meregalli said in an interview with Gazzetto dello Sport.

“The latest developments, concerning the chassis and the swing-arm, have not given us the results we expected, and the tyres play a big role: at times they favour us, at times they favour the others.”

Speaking of Yamaha’s decision to cancel its plans to try out its 2017 bike in testing at Aragon, he added: “It was decided that we will try out the new bike only at the end of the season.

“And after the Valencia test, on the 23 and 24 November, we will go to Sepang.”

2017 bike “a more significant evolution”

Meregalli also indicated that next year’s M1 bike, which will be ridden by Rossi and Suzuki convert Maverick Vinales, is likely to represent a larger step forward in performance than in previous years.

“In the last years the M1 has always been gradually updated, this time there will be something new and more complete,” he said.

“It won’t be a revolution, but a more significant evolution. If we are delaying the debut of the 2017 bike, it’s because in Japan we are working on this.”

Asked what specifically is likely to change the most, he replied: “We say that we lack a bit of top-end power, but when it comes to traction and ride-ability the M1 remains the reference.

“We'd like to find some more horsepower, but without losing low-end performance.”