YZR500 set-up report
Round 13/16, Valencia GP
Circuit Valencia – Spain
Circuit length - 4.005 Km
Circuit lap record - 1’42.473 by Kenny Roberts (99) 

Wherever you sit in the amphitheatre-style Valencia circuit, you can see almost every part of the tight little track – even from pit lane. The circuit turns back on itself several times, putting on an apparently daunting spectacle for spectators as bikes zigzag back and forth, seemingly in every direction. Valencia is the last European round of the Championship, so fans from far and wide will bolster the massive crowd of locals that every Spanish GP attracts.

Circuit characteristics
Most of Valencia’s corners have positive camber that riders use as a force to help them steer more easily. The majority of the circuit is downhill, making it easier on the engine, and it has a good level of grip. These attributes all make life relatively easy for Yamaha technicians. To add to the simplicity of setting up the bikes, most of Valencia's corners are stop-turn, with only a couple of long sweepers and these will present riders with a challenge. 

Short, sharp corners require precision on the exit and the bike will need to be turning perfectly. Braking into the back section of the circuit is mainly down hill so the bike has to have very good front contact; as the rider applies more brake he needs to get more feeling from the front end. The penultimate corner is one long, continuous sweeper and riders will be on the power right through. This corner requires perfect bike stability. Most riders will steer with their front tyre through the tight sections, Garry McCoy being the obvious exception.

To make a factory bike competitive is – generally speaking – easy for technicians. It’s getting that extra fraction of a second over your competitors that is the hard part. An easy circuit like Valencia makes the task even harder as no-one has a significant advantage and specialist information is not so essential. However, any inside information is useful, and Yamaha teams do have an edge here. When the GP field first used Valencia in 1999, the ‘green’ track offered little grip. The race was run in damp conditions, so teams were left with very little data. But an exclusive Yamaha 2000 pre-season test has given a few of the riders a small advantage, especially now that the race line has been laid and the circuit is ‘ripe’ to ride.

General set-up development over the weekend
Technicians will concentrate most on getting a good front-end set-up to make the bike turn perfectly. Front-end stability and confidence are essential, especially on the long high-speed corners. The rear can squat easily in these sections, making the front light. What works for one corner may not work for others so of course a compromise must be made. If the bike is steering properly the rider can be on the right line; if they’ve got that, they’ve got a fast bike around Valencia. The engine will be tuned for bottom-end power so the riders can make time getting good drive from the engine for fast acceleration out of corners. 

Valencia is very demanding on front tyres; the numerous twists and turns require a long wearing tyre. A hard construction with a medium compound will be a wise choice. Yamaha will definitely choose a 17-inch front because Michelin, after team discussions, decided to carry no more 16.5-inch tyres until Phillip Island, where the smaller rubbers will be required next. This will make set-up much easier as technicians won’t have to mix and match tyre choices. A 16.5-inch rear will work the best at the tight circuit like Valencia because of its endurance and the fact that its larger mid-corner contact patch helps with the continuous direction changes.