It wasn’t just the trinity of MotoGP, BSB and WorldSBK championships that Yamaha will be celebrating at the end of 2021, it’s a grand total of 7 championships that will be returning home to HQ in Iwata, Japan.
These include titles in MX2, MotoAmerica, WorldSSP, MFJ Superbike, and of course the MotoGP title from Fabio Quartararo, the BSB title with Tarran Mackenzie (with a shout-out to Jason O’Halloran leading for the majority of the season pre Showdown), and the WorldSBK title with Toprak Razgatlioglu.
With the exception of the MX2 machine, that places the few variations of the R1 machine right up there as one of the best to have ever done it, right? Though I fully appreciate the M1 isn’t quite an R1… and to be honest, none of the above machines would realistically be found on the road.
If you want a lovely little fact to go away with, the last time the trio of ‘leading’ championships (MotoGP, BSB, WorldSBK) was won by a single manufacturer was 2009 - and that was by Yamaha!
Could this be the beginning of a reign of supremacy at the very top for Yamaha? Or will the outrageous success in 2021 prompt other manufacturers to sink a little bit more budget into their racing programmes going forward?
There’s clearly the argument to be had that Quartararo was a bit of an outlier on the 2021 M1, as the rest of the Yamaha’s were a bit further down in the pack… with Ducati breathing down their neck. But, that’s a conversation for another day - read this if you want more.
In any case, huge congratulations are due for Yamaha - it’s a year to remember for their track racing team. Will they follow it up with some road-racing dominance?
