Valentino Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha Team Manager explains the MotoGP World Champion’s YZR-M1 prototype.

As the Fiat Yamaha team and Valentino Rossi gear up for the defence of the Italian’s title in this year’s MotoGP World Championship, his Team Manager Davide Brivio took the time to talk motogp.com through the M1 which Rossi will use for the 2010 season.

Speaking at the second official pre-season test at Sepang, Brivio explained: “It’s a little bit different compared to the 2009 machine, starting with the front cowling. Yamaha worked on the aerodynamics of this new bike, in order to improve the performances and top speed, and also the cooling. Here at Sepang is a very good place to test because the temperature is very high and we can see if this has a good effect. We actually tested it last time and it was good, so this will be the final spec of the cowling for 2010.”

Moving onto the new technical regulations which mean a maximum of six engines per rider for the season, Brivio continued: “Another important area where we worked on this bike is the engine. Because the regulations this year mean everyone must only use a maximum of six engines, we had to improve the durability and reliability of the engine because they have to last much longer. The difficulty has been finding durability without losing performance. We already had some good results, because in lower rpm and middle rpm our engine is better than 2009, and we haven’t lose any top speed so far.”

The frame of the bike is also an area which has received some close attention, with Brivio describing the hard task of making improvements without losing performance.

“We’re also working a lot on the chassis, trying to find a different rigidity balance in order to improve the grip on the tyre, without losing too much on the engine. So we have to find the best compromise between gaining the grip and maintaining the good characteristics of the bike,” said Brivio, before touching on the final aspect which had been developed. “The last area where we are working is the electronics, which is still improving test by test.”

source : motogp.com