A three-time MotoGP runner-up is being called upon to help Yamaha and Alex Rins turn the tide of what has so far been a deeply uninspiring premier-class partnership since Rins' arrival in 2024.
Both Rins and Yamaha managing director Paolo Pavesio have acknowledged to The Race that Andrea Dovizioso, who formally joined Yamaha as a test rider and rider performance advisor earlier this year, is trying to assist Rins with a change to his riding style.
A MotoGP race winner with Suzuki and LCR Honda, Rins signed as a replacement for Franco Morbidelli - but was also coming off a heavy injury, sustained at Mugello in 2023.
He struggled to match up to Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo out of the block and while there had been hopes that the further Rins is removed from his injury the closer he will get to Quartararo, this by and large has not materialised.
With one-lap pace a particular Achilles' heel, Rins has 45 points to Quartararo's 109 and is yet to outqualify the 2021 champion this season in 14 attempts.
Though Rins's contract runs until the end of 2026, there had been whispers of an early termination, though these were rejected by by both Rins himself and Pavesio.
Pavesio told The Race: "I have seen Alex improving a lot from a physical perspective this season - and with the support of Dovi, who is now entering more and more in his role not only as a test rider but as a rider advisor - and all the existing ecosystem around Alex really wants to help him to extract the talent that we believe is there."
Rins has spoken in the past of finding the current inline-four Yamaha a mismatch for his preferred smooth riding style, and of hoping and believing that the manufacturer will bring a bike that is more suited to his sensibilities.
But during the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring last month he revealed that, with little sign of a breakthrough in his performance relative to Quartararo, he was taking more drastic steps to change how he rides.
It was a major focus in Austria "with my crew chief David [Munoz], with Dovi".
"They helped me a lot to change this. And obviously it's not easy, it's not easy because after riding in the same way the bike for many years to change is not easy, it still doesn't come naturally."
Rins said he "tried for one year and a half" to get the M1 - whether through upgrades or fine-tuning - to come more towards his natural style, "and was not successful".
"The way that Fabio developed this bike is the unique way to ride it," he said. "So, I tried to do a bike that I was able to ride in my own [way], but I couldn't. So I am changing it, to be more fast."
When The Race asked him to elaborate on the nature of the changes, Rins confirmed that, in broad terms, it was an effort to move away from 'U'-ing the corners to 'V'-ing them,
"It looks like I close a little bit the line and I have some problems with the tyres, and to reduce the speed.
"We focused to do more similar as Fabio rides. Waiting a little bit more before entry. Braking, yes, a little bit later but it's [primarily] just [adjusting] the line. Waiting, waiting and not closing so much."
It is no surprise it has not come intuitively to Rins, whose smooth style was a great fit for the Suzuki GSX-RR and its devastating corner speed. But he did match up relatively well to Quartararo in Austria - although was a clear step behind again during the most recent MotoGP weekend at Balaton Park in Hungary.
The big question for Rins is not only whether his efforts will lead to the desired level of performance, but whether they will translate to the Yamaha V4 bike, which will make its competitive debut at Misano in test rider Augusto Fernandez's hands before Rins and his stablemates are slated to ride it in the post-race test.
Though he'd showed his greatest form on the inline-four Suzuki, Rins does have a proof-of-concept stint as a V4 rider given he was impressive pre-injury on the Honda RC213V.
Pavesio would not say that he was banking on the V4 to coax out the Rins that Yamaha had hoped it signed, but did say: "It will be a different machine, and things will happen. Someone will feel immediately better, some others will need time to adapt. We don't know."
Its expected introduction, combined with this Dovizioso-aided effort to 'reprogramme' Rins, has every appearance of a last-ditch effort to salvage a partnership that on current form can't really continue beyond 2026.
