Rossi: 2021 MotoGP engine freeze "not an excuse" for Yamaha
Valentino Rossi insists the freeze on engine development for the 2021 MotoGP season is "not an excuse" for Yamaha and its problematic motors


Due to cost-saving measures brought in as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all manufacturers (except KTM, who is allowed to build a new engine after losing its concessions) must start the 2021 campaign with their current engine specification.
After the first round, normal update rules apply, meaning all but Aprilia will be unable to develop their engines for the rest of the season.
Yamaha has been beset by problems with its engines this year, with its motors regularly the slowest through the speed traps and also fragile, with three of its four riders - including Rossi - losing an engine to mechanical issues after the Jerez rounds.
The engine freeze looks like it will impact Yamaha the hardest, but Rossi insists there are other avenues related to engine performance the Japanese marque can look into.
"The engine is frozen [for 2021], but it's not an excuse," Rossi said after his European Grand Prix ended with an engine issue.
"In MotoGP now, you can make a lot of things around the engine to improve the performance, from the electronics side, to the way to [keep] fresh the engine, to keep the engine temperature low, and from the exhaust [side].
"So, also if you can't go inside the engine [to improve] you have a lot of different issues that you can improve.
"So, for me, if Yamaha can work well and in the right direction, we can do better."

Rossi's first race since his return from COVID-19 ended after just five laps, when an "electronic problem" in the engine forced him to park up.
Rossi noted it seems the other manufacturers out-developed Yamaha in the pre-season and ultimately moved ahead as the campaign progressed - but stressed the biggest issue is still the engine.
"It's true that like a lot of times, we are ready, we are fast at the beginning of the season," he added.
"And then it looks like the other manufacturers bring a lot of new things, so they need some races to fix and at the end of the championship they are very strong.
"But it also depends on race by race, last week Franco [Morbidelli] won and here in Valencia it's difficult for all the Yamahas.
"I think and I always said to them the engine is a big problem for us because we are always the slowest on the straight, but at the same time we have reliability problems.
"So, we have a lot of problems to finish the season with five engines. So, we don't have enough performance, but we also don't have enough reliability.
"Also, the engine character that was for a long time was the strong point of Yamaha, now it looks like the other engines are also smoother in acceleration than us.
"If you put all the problems together this is the place where we have [to improve]."

Quartararo: Suzuki MotoGP riders look "unbeatable"
Morbidelli left in "safety mode" by European GP tyre pressure woe

Latest news
Ellis named as replacement for injured Auer in Bathurst 12 Hour
DTM race-winner Philip Ellis will make his Bathurst 12 Hour debut this week as a stand-in for the injured Lucas Auer.
Winning MSR Acura "super lucky" with Daytona 24 gearbox scare
The Meyer Shank Racing Acura team was "super lucky" to win the Daytona 24 Hours despite its malfunctioning gearbox for most of the race, according to team boss Michael Shank.
Bourdais “surprised” Cadillac was beaten on pace in Daytona 24 Hours
Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac driver Sebastien Bourdais said he was surprised that the victorious Acura ARX-06 outperformed his new V-LMDh in the Daytona 24 Hours IMSA SportsCar Championship season opener.
Daytona 24: MSR Acura opens GTP era with win, Proton snatches LMP2 by 0.016s
Meyer Shank Racing scored its second consecutive victory in the Daytona 24 Hours in the first race for the IMSA SportsCar Championship's new GTP regulations, leading an Acura 1-2 finish.
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
Following Suzuki's decision to quit MotoGP, both of its former riders have landed at Honda for 2023. But perhaps its biggest signing from the now-defunct team could instead be a highly-rated technical manager. Is Ken Kawauchi the right man at the right time to steer HRC back to glory?
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Suzuki's unexpected departure left more than 40 professionals virtually jobless for the 2023 MotoGP season. But that human drama has been successfully corrected by the paddock itself, with most former Suzuki crew-members absorbed into other operations
How one MotoGP team went from title fights to losing it all in four years
The Petronas Sepang Racing Team came into MotoGP with a bang in 2019 as regular front-runners, with wonder rookie Fabio Quartararo mounting a title challenge in 2020. But it all went wrong for the Razlan Razali-helmed squad as the team changed hands and tumbled down the order - and RNF Racing plans to right this in 2023
Is MotoGP's comeback king ready to reclaim his throne?
Marc Marquez’s sixth premier MotoGP title seems a long time ago given the injury woes he has faced in the three years since. At the end of a fraught 2022, in which he had a fourth major operation on his right arm, the Spaniard speaks exclusively to Autosport
How MotoGP’s underachiever is working to reverse its fortunes in 2023
As European manufacturers emerged as the strongest force in 2022 in a changing of the guard for MotoGP, one powerhouse couldn’t quite match the feats of Ducati and Aprilia. Its motorsport chief tells Autosport why this is and what it is doing to become a consistent frontrunner in the class of kings
How MotoGP riders are preparing for the physical stress of sprint races
With the expansion of the calendar to 21 grands prix and the introduction of sprint races, the 2023 MotoGP season will take the riders to almost 1,300 kilometres of competition more than this year, a factor that forces adjustments in their physical preparations.
The Ducati rider who is much more than just the brother of a MotoGP legend
Surname pressure is something many have had to deal with in their motorsport careers. And while Luca Marini doesn’t have that, his familial relation and the team he rides for in MotoGP have cast a brighter spotlight on his progress. But, as he has shown in 2022 – and as he reveals to Autosport – Marini is so much more than just the brother of a legend
Ranking the top 10 riders of MotoGP 2022
The 2022 MotoGP season was another hotly contested championship, with Francesco Bagnaia emerging as the title winner after the campaign went to the wire. Autosport picks out the 10 best performers of the season
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.