ARCHIVE: 1992 Honda Vs Yamaha

With all the players now running V4s most were at or about the same level. Chassis, tyres and riders made the significant differences… well, until Honda fired up their 1992 NSR. Firing all four pots within 70 degrees of each other provided smoother torque and delivered the power to the tyre more effectively. 

Cagiva, Suzuki and Yamaha had to play catch-up or get left behind in the wake and drone of Honda’s big-bang motor. The YZR got an urgent rethink as the season got underway, but the upgrades weren’t without their issues. Honda had enjoyed the entire closed season to develop their new engine, and it showed. Suzuki’s take on the subject would see crank failures with Yamaha’s version suffering from transmission problems. These and many more issues were addressed as matters of supreme urgency. And, of course, Yamaha didn’t blindly copy Honda’s lead either – their motor fired at 0 and 90 degrees producing a subtly different exhaust note. 

Yamaha started the season with the ‘old’ 180-degree firing order motor with Rainey forever chasing Doohan on the NSR, but a massive accident sidelined the Honda rider just as the new ‘big-bang’ YZR was about to come on stream. Yamaha teammate John Kocinksi’s early season wasn’t the best but latterly picked up with a win at the final round in South Africa. With the Honda star out of action and the new big-bang engine, Rainey turned a 63-point, mid-season deficit into a four-point win. Yamaha had bagged another title, but it had been attained more by luck than judgement. With Kocinski taking third spot, Juan Garriga was the next Yamaha rider in seventh place with Randy Mamola (Global Motorsports/Budweiser Racing) tenth and Niall Mackenzie (Yamaha France/Banco) eleventh. 

Thankfully, the starting grids had swelled and in Yamaha’s own words: “The leasing of YZR500 machines had begun from the previous year, and from 1992, Yamaha began sales of its YZR500 engines to European constructors. As a result, 66 per cent of the grid (in the Japanese GP) had Yamaha engines, and the number of competitors had grown again. The new Yamaha engine-powered 500cc machines now entering the GP with chassis reflecting the design philosophies of the respective constructors made the races even more interesting. Seventeen of the 28 point-scoring riders were on machines powered by Yamaha engines. In this sense it was clear that Yamaha’s policy was successfully promoting the sport.”

Yamaha might have taken the title, but it was more by happenstance than strategic planning and the 1993 season was going to be a challenge with or without Honda’s star rider. 

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