Yamaha became the latest MotoGP operation to unleash its 2024 design on Monday morning, a day before the first official pre-season test of 2024 at Sepang in Malaysia.
Race riders Fabio Quartararo and new signing Alex Rins were on hand to lift the covers off the Japanese marque’s new M1 machine. Yamaha is keen to try and turn to winning ways this season following a tough 2023 term, in which it failed to win a single race for the first time in 20 years.
The company’s new paint scheme is largely similar to the one it ran last season, primarily due to the continuation of its title partnership with energy drink giant Monster Energy. The M1 is still adorned in Yamaha’s traditional blue and black house colors, with the green flashes of Monster visible on the flanks of the machine.
The dark grey and black flashes remain alongside the Monster Energy branding, keeping the M1’s aggressive look pretty much the same as last year.
Yamaha Team Manager Lin Jarvis insisted during Yamaha’s launch event that it had changed its way of working following its recent woes, highlighting the signing of ex-Ducati man Massimo Bartolini as technical director. This is the first time a European has taken this role within the organization, Yamaha trying to follow in the footsteps of the trailblazing European manufacturers that currently rule MotoGP.
World champion of 2021 Quartararo will be keen to get back to winning ways in 2024 after a tricky 2023, in which he could only manage a trio of rostrum results on the underpowered M1.
Rins meanwhile will be hoping for a more consistent year following a trying season last year with LCR Honda, which saw him miss the majority of the second half of the season through injury. The Spaniard was the only man to secure a victory for Honda after claiming a stunning success in the Americas Grand Prix.
