@motomatters (1/3) This is excellent, as always, but it's fascinating to listen to this a few days later on, after further public comments from Jack Miller and Gigi Dall'Igna. Jack may be overly colorful, but Gigi pointed to the opposite of the perils detailed here. It isn't necessarily about ignoring rider input, it's following one rider's input over a cliff.
@motomatters (2/3) Yamaha and Honda obviously didn't listen to Pol last year or Franco this year. But Yam gave Fabio what he asked for this year (a heavily revised engine and geometry changes to alter the bike's lines). Honda engineers wouldn't have made an angier, twitchier bike in the abstract; Marquez's style pushes them there (and I seriously doubt anyone really believes MM93 asked for a mellower package).
@motomatters (3/3) Yes, it is the manufacturer's logo on the bike and their responsibility for what they put on the grid, but the riders* and team leads aren't exactly absolving Fabio or Marc. Their input helped changed the character of these bikes for the worse.
(And changing it back is going to be a hell of a long road with clashing cultures.)
@EvilTw1n Speaking off the record to people involved in the test teams, and they will tell you that the Japanese engineers just don't listen to riders.
@motomatters Of that I have no doubt. And there was obviously little communication in the Rossi/Mav-era of Yamaha. But when you have Gubellini on the record saying they were changing the M1's engine and cornering geometry, just as Fabio asked for, and Gigi (who knows a thing or two on bike development) saying that about Honda on the record...that suggests failure not being an orphan here. It has quite a few parents from laptop to track. https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/motorcycles/motogp/yamahas-2023-yzr-m1-last-chance-for-the-inline-four/ #motogp
I'm an engineer, and getting the desires and feedback from those who are using or wanting the thing is what the thing is based on. If I cannot use the item myself to test it's performance, I have to go by the tester's feedback.
I'm unsympathetic to their viewpoint, as the results of this philosphy are clear and this isn't the first time in recorded MotoGP history that it's happened. They have vast resources, and understanding the rider's feedback is one of the mandatory keys to winning. Perhaps a reallocation of resources are in order.
Granted the engineers are likely vastly under-compensated but hey management's got the resources to solve that problem too.
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