Quote:
Originally Posted by tehdutchie
What I keep noticing is the different builts of the YZ (not WR) that were in the race as 'supposed' factory bikes. I guess Yamaha still hasnt got a full works entry or Olivier Pain is not part of it. Once Yamaha deceides on a platform they can develop it and move forward.
The way I look at it now is that Yamaha just throws a few test bikes and some money at the riders and the 'factory' effort ends there...
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I think that is a good point - and essentially the reverse of what Honda did this past season...
By letting 'satellite' teams test the various options (and make any improvements), it minimises both the financial and [bad] publicity risk to developing their own 'factory' bike directly in the public eye?
Yamaha's brand image remains largely intact (certainly from a corporate point of view), while they are able to offer engineering support to the various teams, to help development.
Whether we will ultimately see them decide on a platform and bring all the riders/engineers 'in-house' so to speak, we can only hope so? - I believe a full factory effort by Yamaha would really shake things up for both Honda and KTM!
Jx