Yamaha has revealed a tweaked livery on its 2024 MotoGP contender ahead of the first official pre-season test of the year at Sepang.
Monster Energy Yamaha Racing is the most recent team to reveal its new livery and bike for the upcoming season alongside World Champion Fabio Quartararo and new signing Alex Rins.
The new duo were present to unveil Yamaha Racing’s colors for 2024 MotoGP at a ceremony held in Sepang, Malaysia, where the official pre-season testing is scheduled to take place beginning Tuesday and run for three days.
Yamaha’s new colour scheme is essentially the same as the one it sported over the previous season as a result of its ongoing title partnership with Monster Energy. The M1 retains its factory livery of blue and black, along with Monster’s green brand marks on the sides.
The aggressive appearance of the M1 is largely unchanged compared to last year’s model mainly due to the retention of the dark grey and black flashes alongside the Monster Energy branding.
During Yamaha’s launch event, team manager Lin Jarvis emphasized that the factory squad has revamped how it operates in response to its recent challenges, mentioning the appointment of former Ducati staff Massimo Bartolini as the new technical director.
For the first time, a European has assumed this position within Yamaha as the manufacturer attempts to emulate the innovative European manufacturers who currently dominate MotoGP.
“Last year was a tough season, but we have regrouped, restructured our organisation, and now we are ready to make a comeback,” Jarvis said. “Having made significant changes to our MotoGP project team and with a new rider line-up, the team feel refreshed and ready to tackle the 2024 season.
“The Yamaha engineers have been working around the clock during the ‘winter break’ and kept developing the bike. So, though the livery remains the same for this season, there is much more to the 2024-spec M1 than is apparent at first glance.
“Another constant, which we are really grateful for, is the strong relationship with our official sponsors and partners.
“We are entering our twelfth year with Monster Energy Company as our sponsor and the sixth season with them as title sponsor.
“We are thankful to them and to our other official team sponsors, partners, and suppliers, with many of whom we have had long-term partnerships, for showing their full support to our project and our mission to excel in the super innovative, technically and physically challenging sport of MotoGP racing.”
Quartararo remains with Yamaha for his fourth season as a member of the official factory team while Rins moves from LCR Honda to take Franco Morbidelli’s place after the latter switched to Ducati.
After failing to win a Sprint Race or a full-length Grand Prix in last year’s campaign, this year is expected to be a pivotal year for Yamaha as it will mark the second year without a satellite team to support its two factory entries.
In fact, Quartararo has talked extensively about the shortcomings of the Yamaha M1, most of which are related to its underpowered engine in comparison to those of its rivals, which has made it vulnerable to crashes during races.
The Frenchman claimed that despite Yamaha’s efforts to improve last year, the M1’s rigidity and balance were negatively affected. This comes as Quartararo’s contract holds just one year left to run, and there are grave rumours that he will be wooed by teams like Ducati and KTM.
Yamaha is hoping that by bringing in the seasoned Rins, who has won races with both of its Japanese rivals Honda and Suzuki over the last two seasons, the manufacturer will be able to steer its inline-four machine in a more competitive trajectory.
Rins will be striving for a more consistent year after a challenging campaign with LCR Honda last year, where he missed great deal of the second half of the season due to injuries. The Spaniard was the sole rider to secure a win for Honda after racking up an incredible victory in the Americas Grand Prix.
The new Yamaha livery design is somewhat reminiscent of the M1’s previous appearance, especially with its notable title sponsorship with Monster Energy drinks. However, the M1 itself is anticipated to undergo a makeover over the days and weeks leading up to the 2024 MotoGP opening round.
