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Yamaha Confirms the Debut of Full Seamless Transmission in MotoGP

Yamaha officials have confirmed that the two factory bikes ridden by Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo will be equipped with the new version of the seamless gearbox as of the debut round in Qatar, at the end of the month. This is of course very good news for the house of Iwata and their fans, as the presence of a full seamless transmission aboard the two Movistar Yamaha bikes adds more edge in the battle with the Honda arch rivals.
Jorge Lorenzo at Sepang 2 3 photos
Photo: yamahamotogp.com
Sepang 2: Valentino RossiSepang 2: Jorge Lorenzo
Yamaha introduced an early version of the seamless gearbox but was very cautious, as the technology was not technically ready for full-out track use. The first version of the gearbox provided clutchless shifting only for engaging higher gears, while the clutch had to be used for selecting lower gears. Seamless shifting now works both ways, Yamaha Motor vice president Takaaki Kimura says: "During the second Sepang test, we were able to confirm the performance of our seamless gearbox.”

More chassis and electronics development is needed

Mr. Kimura has however added that the work on the 2015 version of the bike is far from being over. “However we must keep on developing the chassis and electronics to utilize it to its full potential. We will continue to work on the setup at the upcoming test in Qatar, while aiming for the victory at the first round of the 2015 season in Qatar later this month," he added.

A seamless gearbox will definitely not be enough to beat Marc Marquez, but is yet one more technological upgrade which can help Iwata level the difference. Yamaha’s best result in the second test at Sepang in late February belonged to Jorge Lorenzo, who was 0.322 slower than Marquez. Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi seemed to have dealt with other tweaks as their final lap times were lower down the time sheets, with 0.718 and 0.797 gaps, respectively.

Lorenzo and Rossi themselves have to get used to the new transmission in order to be able to squeeze the last bit of performance out of it. Yamaha will most likely provide the satellite bikes with this new transmission, too, and we might even see them trying to come up with a special software solution for the customer bikes.

Ducati proved that Open Class bikes can run seamless gearboxes, despite claims that this thing was impossible. Is 20015 going to be an even more interesting season in MotoGP, or is it just us day dreaming?
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