Why Yamaha targeting a KTM outcast as a MotoGP test rider makes sense

Yamaha’s rebuilding process is in full swing as it seeks to find its way back to the front of the field in MotoGP. Ahead of team boss Lin Jarvis’ departure at the end of this year, the Englishman has overseen several key elements in Yamaha’s future hopes.

First was securing 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo to a new two-year deal through to the end of 2026. It was a costly move, with Quartararo set to earn €12 million per season, but one that will certainly prove to be a worthwhile investment.

After 10 rounds, Quartararo has effortlessly been the best of the struggling Japanese bike-mounted riders, sitting 14th in the standings on 49 points - 35 clear of Johann Zarco on the LCR Honda.

Consistency in Yamaha’s ranks has also been secured in the form of a new deal for Alex Rins for the next two years. A crucial move in Yamaha being able to speed up development is finally snaring a satellite partner, following RNF’s decision to partner with Aprilia at the end of 2022.

After Ducati couldn’t get Marc Marquez to join Pramac on a factory Desmosedici, Pramac has taken up a long-term option with Yamaha to become its satellite squad next season. While it hasn’t confirmed any riders yet, a number of strong candidates from within MotoGP - chiefly Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller - and Moto2 have been linked.

All of this has come off the back of several major personnel changes over the winter, chief among which being the arrival of Gigi Dall’Igna’s former right-hand man Max Bartolini from Ducati. Yamaha has embraced its much-needed cultural change and it’s brought light to the end of the tunnel.

Yamaha has boosted its test team effort over the past few years, bringing in three-time grand prix winner Cal Crutchlow when he retired from racing at the end of 2020 and conducting more testing outside of Japan.

But calls to invest more in the testing programme came from Quartararo earlier this season when it was still unclear if Yamaha would have a satellite team in 2025.

“A disaster? No,” Quartararo said about the prospect of not having a satellite Yamaha team next year, prior to Pramac signing its deal with the Japanese marque. “But I think it will be the moment to invest even more in the test team.

“I think to have another rider [alongside Crutchlow], to have more bikes, more people working in there. Of course, it's always better to have a satellite team, but… Already the step we made from last year to this year [with the race team] is amazing [and maybe] we have to make the step also for the test team.”

With the concessions it has under the current rules, Yamaha is free to test with its race riders during the season. Crutchlow is an important part of this, but a hand injury and complications from an operation on it have hampered his testing role this year.

Over the British Grand Prix weekend, reports emerged from es.motorsport.com that Yamaha was looking at signing Augusto Fernandez as a full-time test rider for 2025.

Remy Gardner, who competed at the German and British GPs as an injury stand-in, is thought to be the Japanese manufacturer’s preference. But the Australian poured cold water on this at Silverstone, feeling it wouldn’t be wise to dovetail a World Superbike campaign with a MotoGP test role.

“I think it would be kind of shooting themselves in the foot because in the end it’s a completely different bike,” Gardner said of the idea. “I’m sure with time I could do just as well, but it’s a completely different bike and going from one week to one to another it’s not the best to focus on one single championship.”

Fernandez, 26, is out of a ride at the end of the season having not done enough to secure a third season with KTM at Tech3. The 2022 Moto2 world champion has had an especially difficult time in MotoGP over the last season and a half.

His debut campaign aboard a tricky KTM package came without him being able to learn from a highly experienced team-mate in Pol Espargaro, who suffered serious injuries in a practice crash in the opening round of the 2023 calendar and would be absent until August’s British GP.

A best of fourth at Le Mans and three further top 10s in grands prix showed flashes of speed and KTM kept him for 2024. But 15 points from the first 10 rounds, with a best finish of 11th in Portugal, failed to earn him a 2025 contract. With race options limited in MotoGP and World Superbikes, Fernandez could do a lot worse than become a Yamaha test rider.

But from Yamaha’s point of view, he could be exactly what it needs to push the project along.

While he may not be as standout a rider as some of the testers Yamaha has employed in recent years, like Crutchlow, Jorge Lorenzo and even Jonas Folger, Fernandez is at a solid enough competitive level to make his feedback useful.

Looking across all Q1 sessions this season and his gap to the fastest, his average deficit is 0.863s after the first 10 rounds. Being within a second to reference riders in a testing stable is exactly the kind of form a manufacturer is looking for. No test rider is expected to be faster than its regular race riders - just quick enough to accurately put new items through their paces.

Fernandez stepping straight out of a race role into a testing one is also useful for Yamaha in the context of him remaining sharp and in tune with the feeling of a modern MotoGP bike. This will be especially useful when it comes to him contesting wildcards, of which he could race up to six times in 2025.

His knowledge of what the KTM does well, as will his information on what it doesn’t, will serve as a nice bonus for Yamaha.

Beyond this, Yamaha’s increased stable of four bikes in 2025 means the risk of needing an injury stand-in is heightened. With Crutchlow currently injured, Yamaha had to call up Gardner from WSBK to replace Alex Rins at the Sachsenring and initially take over the Briton’s wildcard slot at Silverstone, before being promoted to Rins’ entry after the Spaniard withdrew due to injury.

Gardner didn’t disgrace himself, finishing 50.115s from the win in Germany and 59.137s from first in Britain. But coming away without points was hardly ideal for Yamaha. Capable of top 10s when everything has clicked together, Fernandez would prove to be a solid stand-in should Yamaha need.

While it’s hard to imagine Fernandez landing a full-time MotoGP race ride beyond this season again, remaining in the grand prix paddock as a tester with occasional wildcards will do his hopes a great deal better than a mid-pack move to WSBK.

And as the likes of Michele Pirro at Ducati have proven over the years, you can still make yourself an indelible part of the success of a MotoGP manufacturer away from the spotlight…