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Yamaha Boss Takahiro Sumi Interview: "We Have Been Changing Because We Saw The Game Changed"

By Akira Nishimura |

　It goes without saying that the objective for the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team is to win back the title Fabio Quartararo conquered in 2021. To make that happen, Takahiro Sumi, General Manager of Yamaha Motor Co., LTD’s Motor Sports Development Division, manages the development of the YZR-M1 that Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins will be riding for the 2024 season. Sumi-san started his racing career as a chassis engineer in the MotoGP paddock in the 2004 season, then accumulated a lot of knowledge and experience to lead Fabio Quartararo's 2021 world championship campaign, working as project leader. We conducted a one-on-one interview with him to ask about their vision and tactics to bring back the glory this season.

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Q: In the team presentation you had at the eve of the official Sepang pre-season test, there was an announcement that last year’s project leader Kazutoshi Seki moved to the technical management position for the test team and the previous test team technical leader Kazuhiro Masuda became the project leader for the racing team. Does swapping their positions mean Yamaha is planning to have more intense communication between the racing team and test team?

TS: To get out of the predicament we have been through these last few years, we have to make our bike more competitive by improving our development speed and bringing new parts to our team more proactively. In the development process, there is a series of works: firstly, there is a designer, and we check it before trying it with the test team, then hand it over to the racing team. We have to integrate these processes as quickly, effectively, and firmly as possible, and that is why Seki and Masuda swapped their positions.

Q: You won the championship with Fabio in 2021 and fought for the title in the following season until the final race in Valencia, although you had to struggle in the second half of the season and finished second place overall. Last year, your riders’ final classifications were 10th and 13th, and the team ranking was 7th of all 11 teams. In the constructors’ championship, you were 4th of 5 manufacturers. I am sorry to say this, but it looks like you abruptly lost your momentum in these eighteen months. How could these things happen?

TS: As you know, the race is decided by the relative competitiveness between manufacturers. Therefore, if the pace of your progress is slower than others, you look like losing the momentum. Ducati, as well as Aprilia and KTM have been improving the performance and speed of their bikes. Besides, Ducati has eight bikes while we have two, which affected the development because they have four times more data than we do. And, this is equal for everybody, so we cannot excuse it, but the new race format that drastically changed since last year also had a negative effect on us because this made it more difficult to do new challenges during the race weekend. These factors overlapped each other and worked against us, resulting in the final season classifications.

Yamaha
Alex Rins
Fabio Quartararo
MotoGP
CormacGP
David Emmett
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Comments

You are missed at the front!  Look forward to seeing you back. The M1 sounds the best of all bikes when exiting the box and on the pit limiter.  Angry.

With respect to Sumi-san, this interview read to me like, 'Things have changed and continue to change and we know we need to change'.  Basically what they have been saying (and publicly apologized for) for years.

Based on testing, it seems like we're in for more of the same from Yamaha.  I hope Quartararo moves to pastures new before his talent is squandered further.  I feel bad for Rins.

To be fair Yamaha have now got top European guy's for the engine, areo, chassis departments. And Gigi Dall'Igna's ex right hand man signed a couple of months ago.

Motogp nowadays you can't suddenly make a great bike after a poor season. Far too complicated, you need to gradually change things over a period of time. To get to Ducati's high level.

Unfortunately for Yamaha Quartararo doesn't have much time to sort out his options for 2025. As the rider market some factory seats will be signed early before the second half of the season.

I personally think Quartararo should sign with factory Aprilia for 2025. Ducati too many guy's fighting to be Bagnaia's teammate. And Acosta will be Binders future teammate.