As rumoured, Yamaha gave its version ♓of a MotoGP holeshot device a public debut at the Sepang Test.

Following on from special starting devices fitted to the Ducati and Apꦺrilia, some of the 2020 Factory M1s appeared with a new mechanical switch (electronic suspension adjustment is not allowed) on the upper left side of the bike.

Subsequent practice starts showed the rear of the M1 squatting down when the rider activated the switch, mimicking the Ducati system. The Aprilia versio꧃n is fitted to the front suspension.

Holeshot devices work by temporarily locking the suspension in a compressed position, therefore lowering t💛he centre of gravity and heওlping to prevent wheelies, which are the limiting facto🎐r for maximum MotoGP accelerati🌠on.

Maveric💖k Vinales, Monster Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi and test rider Kohta Nozane had the holeshot device fitted to their M1s at Sepang.

Vinales and Rossi gave little away about the system, the Italian saying only "it's not too bad but unfortunately we needܫ to work before we can use" while Vinales joked he can touch the ground easier now:

"I'm short. I'm not tall. So at least I can hold on to the bike better!" he smiled. "Before, I was very afra🍸id. Now I can hold on to the bike better. That was gooꦓd!"

It's not clear when Rossi tried the system, but Nozane definitely u🦋sed it at the end of day two.

Vinales - who says starts are crucial to his chances of battling for the world championship, after frequently losing ground into turn one in previous years - was then the only rider to take advantag💎e of the special practice start time at the end of the day three:

Vinales lowers rear of his M1 using the holeshot device at the Sepang test.

Perhaps it was just the angle of the images, but it also looked like the front of Vinales' Yamaha was low during his practice starts. In which 𒉰case, might Yamaha have created a 'double-strength' holeshot device?

Time will tell, but Vinales did🍎 make several small 'stoppies' (braking hard enough to lift the rear wheel slightly off the ground) as he arrived on the grid. He may have just been checking/heating his brakes or wanting to replicate everything he would normally do before a real race start, but it was also exactly the kind of behaviour required to load and lock the front suspension... The rear suspension was lowered after Vinales came to a halt.

While Petronas Yamaha's Fabio Quartar🅘aro, who also has a Factory-Spec M1, did a lot of practice starts at th📖e end of pitlane on the final day he did not have the holeshot system.

"No. I know that Yamaha is working on a new system fo🅺r the holeshot. They are in the process, so when they are 100% sure, we will use it," said the Frenchman, fastes𝐆t over all three days of the test.

When a rider brakes h𓆉ard for turn one, the holeshot system should release the suspension and it was not tho🔯ught to be used again for the rest of the race… Although there are rumours Ducati might have found a way to let its riders also lower the bike in hard braking/acceleration areas.

Suzuki is thought to be working on a holeshot device for 2020 but, like Honda and KTM,꧟ did not appear to have anything on its bikes at Sepang.