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Yamaha MotoGP team 'must improve every area', according to Jarvis

Yamaha must "improve every area" in order to match MotoGP rival Honda in 2014, according to the Yamaha Motor Racing's managing director Lin Jarvis

Yamaha lost out to Honda by eight points in the fight for the 2013 manufacturers' crown, while Honda's Marc Marquez beat Yamaha's two-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo by just four points in this year's title fight.

And while Jarvis believes Lorenzo's injuries and a mid-season dip contributed to those deficits, he says Yamaha must find all-round gains in order to keep the pace with Honda.

"We see it as a successful season: we didn't win the championship at the end of the year, which was unfortunate, but we only lost it by four points," Jarvis told MotoGP.com.

"It has not been easy: we started with a one-two in the first race and then had a bit of a dip, followed by the injuries of Jorge mid-season in Assen and then again at the Sachsenring. That really was the turning point for the season

"In terms of bike performance, we won the same number of grands prix as Honda, so I would say it was a really even match and an equal challenge and championship.

"[2014] is going to be a tough battle again - in my opinion it will be Honda vs Yamaha and Marquez vs Lorenzo again.

"With the bike, we have got to improve every area because we know our competitors will be doing the same.

"We have just got to be on top of our game and have the riders in good health, fully motivated."

Jarvis said he had been especially pleased with Yamaha's end to 2013, as Lorenzo won five times over the final seven races to take the title fight to the wire.

"Of course we prefer to be first, but second and such a good performance is great," he added.

"Over the entire year, we won nine grands prix: eight by Jorge and one by [Rossi] Valentino in Assen, coming back to success with Yamaha.

"We were especially happy with the end of the season because we won five of the last seven races.

"We [were not] able to take the title but we will be back next year."

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