VJMC’s Steve Cooper remembers…
With the YZR lastly in high-quality fettle, Yamaha appeared to be in with a shot of reclaiming the title
Rider coach, trackside fettler and GP guru Kel Carruthers had gone however Yamaha was nonetheless in dire want of reclaiming the celebrated Quantity One plate. As was all the time the case, ‘extra energy’ was considered the reply and the boffins again at Iwata by some means managed to work in a further pair of switch ports into the YZR’s cylinders. The end result was an additional 10 or so horses, bringing the V4 reed valve motor as much as some 165bhp on the dyno even when the manufacturing facility solely ‘formally’ quoted 155.
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Some 500 riders had perfected the artwork of ‘squaring off’ corners aided by Dunlop tyres that facilitated controllable rear wheel slides. Yamaha manufacturing facility groups have been on Michelins which had stronger aspect partitions aiding again wheel grip and customarily delivered higher lap time however with a caveat – when the French tyres had reached their limits they let go virtually instantaneously.
Eddie Lawson was again with Marlboro Workforce Roberts having discovered Honda’s NSR500 simply too unpredictable. Nonetheless, his season proved to be dire with solely 118 factors after braking each ankles in numerous races. Wayne Rainey was going to must shine – which he did. Gauloises Blondes Yamaha/Mobil 1 would discipline two homespun riders within the guises of Christian Sarron and Jean-Philippe Ruggia. Three different riders have been on the YZR500 with various ranges of semi-official manufacturing facility help.
The bike was a winner just about out of the crate with the brand new motor however that didn’t cease the R&D guys in search of small enhancements that may acquire the additional essential factors right here and there. Transferring the engine upwards and forwards aided front-end really feel and becoming the swing arm with eccentric bearings delivered the flexibility to subtly change experience peak from circuit to circuit. The YZRs have been heavier than the RGs and NSR so the manufacturing facility even went to the lengths of manufacturing titanium exhausts for the ultimate few races.
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Finally Yamaha had the bike sorted and aside from retiring on the penultimate Hungarian GP, Rainey accomplished each race. With seven wins, 5 second locations and two thirds it was a carried out take care of 255 factors towards second place rider Kevin Schwantz on the Suzuki. Sadly, not one of the different riders did effectively – however Yamaha had received its all-important sixth Producer’s Championship.
The OW01 motor had proved its value and Yamaha would go into 1991 promoting satellite tv for pc groups akin to Harris and ROC Yamaha variations of the 1990 engine to stimulate the GP500 class and successfully share the enjoyment. The agency had excessive hopes for the next 12 months!
