2018 Yamaha YZF-M1 Revealed; Vinales Gets A Two-Year Contract Extension

Yamaha has revealed the 2018 YZF-M1 race bike for the latest season of MotoGP. The manufacturer pulled the wraps off its new race bike at a special event in Madrid, Spain at the Matadero Madrid modern art centre with riders Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales in attendance. The new bike now boasts a familiar blue paint job with a prominent white branding of title sponsor Movistar, as opposed to green. The event also saw Yamaha announce Vinales' contract extension for two years, as Rossi moves into his second year of a two-year contract with the manufacturer.

(Vinales will continue riding for Yamaha until the end of 2020)

Having lost the MotoGP title back-to-back in 2016 and 2017, Yamaha is taking no chance and is preparing to make a comeback to the top stronger than ever this season. After the 2017 chassis did not perform up to expectations despite having extensively experimented with it,  Yamaha has gone back to the 2016 for the 2018 YZF-M1. The 2016 chassis serves as the base for the latest version with the team working from thereon to make it all the more capable.

Yamaha hasn't revealed much about the new M1, but the bike is expected to make more power than its predecessor and be a lot more adaptive than the previous year's offering. The team will be using an Ohlins based suspension while braking performance will come from Brembo. Improvements will also extend to the electronics, while also reducing tyre wear. The latter was a particular problem for Yamaha last season.

(Yamaha has gone back to using the 2016 chassis as base on the 2018 YZF-M1)

The 2017 season was rather disappointing for Yamaha despite an initial lead. While Vinales managed to finish third in the rider standings, Rossi was pushed down to fifth. The fact that a fracture midway through season did not help matters for the team. Vinales certainly proved his mettle in 2017 and is expected to improve his performance this year as he aims for a championship title. Meanwhile, Rossi will be looking to gain lost ground after losing the title in two consecutive seasons.

Yamaha's on-track preparations for the upcoming season will continue on January 28-30, during MotoGP's first official pre-season test at Sepang.