MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

On December 31st, 2024, Lin Jarvis stepped down as Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, the organization that runs Yamaha's MotoGP project. In the 26 years that Jarvis has been in charge, Yamaha have known incredible success. Eight rider titles, with Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, and Fabio Quartararo, as well as six manufacturer and seven team titles. Under Jarvis, Yamaha won the triple crown five times, in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2015.

You can read the first and second parts of my marathon interview with Jarvis here (part 1) and here (part 2). In the final part, he talks about Valentino Rossi's return to Yamaha after leaving for Ducati in 2011 and 2012. He explains the delicate balancing act that required, which the fallout of the 2015 season nearly upended. And he talks about the riders who came after, including Maverick Viñales and Fabio Quartararo, and the process of identifying talent.

Jarvis also talks about how Nicky Hayden got away from Yamaha, and the project he launched to turn Yamaha's failing fortunes around.

The Prodigal Son Returns

On December 31st, 2024, Lin Jarvis stepped down as Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, the organization that runs Yamaha's MotoGP project. In the 26 years that Jarvis has been in charge, Yamaha have known incredible success. Eight rider titles, with Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, and Fabio Quartararo, as well as six manufacturer and seven team titles. Under Jarvis, Yamaha won the triple crown five times, in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2015.

You can read the first part of this marathon interview with Jarvis here. In the second part, we talked about how he signed Valentino Rossi, and how Rossi saved Yamaha's MotoGP project. Jarvis also talks about the gamble Yamaha took signing Jorge Lorenzo when it looked like Valentino Rossi might go off and race in F1, the difficulty of managing that situation, and the backlash he faced in Italy for doing so.

The Rossi years

Q: First came the switch from 500s to four-strokes. Was it still Max Biaggi who left and Valentino came?

After 26 years in the World Championship and more than three decades of racing, Valentino Rossi retired from competing on two wheels. His mother Stefania Palma looks back on the achievements of her son and the future in an exclusive interview.

There is something quiet, calm, gentle and very calculated in the way Stefania Palma speaks. Her eyes are penetrating yet beautiful, delicate and soft at the same time. She radiates warmth, acceptance, patience but she is also direct and resolute.

Stefania, or Steffi as her sons call her, does not share the same surname as Valentino - Graziano's son, a past racer - or like Luca - the son of Massimo Marini, who coaches soccer goalkeepers by profession - and seems quite comfortable with the fact that the family name gives her some anonymity.

Stefania met Graziano when he was already pursuing his dream of becoming a motorcycle racer. Parallel to her studies she accompanied the young rider through his career at the World Championship, even when he suffered serious and life-threatening injuries that led to his retirement - and might have also had an influence on their separation when their only shared son Valentino was a young boy.

In 2021, Yamaha's motorsport efforts can rightly be described as formidable. In MotoGP, Fabio Quartararo became the first ever French premier class champion. In WorldSBK, Toprak Razgatl?o?lu won the championship, becoming the first Turkish rider to do so. Yamaha also clinched the title in All Japan Road Race Championship, BSB, and MotoAmerica. It is literally a clean sweep. Meanwhile, their competitors started preparing for revenge. Ducati will line up eight bikes in 2022. Their invincible armada must be a grave menace to Yamaha and other MotoGP manufacturers.

At 18:00 on the eve of the final race weekend at Valencia Ricardo Tormo Circuit, we visited the Yamaha factory team’s office and interviewed Takahiro Sumi, the project leader of YZR-M1. It was three days before Valentino Rossi would take the grid for the final race in his racing career.

Q: In 2021, Fabio Quartararo won the MotoGP championship, and Toprak will likely win the WorldSBK in Indonesia. Yamaha also won in JSB, BSB, and MotoAmerica. Could you tell us the reason why Yamaha is so strong this season in all road racing categories?