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For the second time in my career, Yamaha has invited me out to Valencia to ride the world famous Yamaha YZR-M1. (Photo: Neale Bayly) ยป More Photos
In my peripheral vision the smooth yellow, orange, and blue line flows effortlessly past the windscreen, indicating I have found the place I have been looking for. It is all starting to make sense. And from the angry snarl spitting into the atmosphere from under my right leg, we are beginning to pick up speed. Holding second gear as the bike goes from hard left to hard right with less than a thought, the brightly colored line of perfection now rolls passed the other side of the fairing. From somewhere in the ether, other world powers are now communicating with my right hand as the instant increase in decibels coincides perfectly with the front wheel's exit from the smooth, Spanish tarmac. This means the inline, four-cylinder engine has hit twelve thousand rpm and with the bike still leaned over, we hurtle towards turn four.
Chopping the throttle to bring the front wheel back to earth, I can read the number 27 on the back of Stoner' bright red Ducati Desmosedici GP 07, and putting all my faith in the sticky Michelins, I brush the brake lever and tip the bike on its side. Picking up the throttle my eyes are glued forward as I attempt to give chase. He is starting to pull away and there is nothing I can do about it. But just knowing there is a human being in the Ducati's saddle finally brings me the thin thread of reality I have been looking for since I climbed on board Valentino Rossi's Yamaha YZR-M1. With whoever is riding Stoner's Desmodieci obviously being another journalist, as witnessed by the fact that I am almost
For the second time in my career, Yamaha has invited me out to Valencia, Spain to ride Valentino Rossi's world famous Yamaha YZR-M1, emblazoned with his trademark number 46 on the carbon fiber bodywork. In traditional fashion, all the MotoGP teams have opened their pit doors for an assortment of journalists to sample their machines after the last race of the season. The term journalist should be used loosely. In reality, a high percentage of the test riders present are ex-racers turned part time scribes, shipped in to give their respective magazines the highest degree of exposure for their stories. For instance, there was some bloke called Kevin Schwantz in my group riding Rossi's bike, just in case I wasn't intimidated enough.
Having lost my MotoGP virginity on Valentino's World Championship winning 990 back in '05, I was able to approach the new 800cc machine knowing I might live to tell the tale. The new 800cc M1 is making a tad less horsepower than the 240 claimed for the 990, but I wasn't actually able to obtain an exact figure. According to the Yamaha factory race site, the bike produces over 200 horsepower, and chatting with various people in the pit garage during the test that figure is actually very close to the 990s output. What I can say is the 800cc engine is revving higher and producing less torque, so from a rider's perspective there is a noticeable difference.
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