Yamaha bemoan “something not working” as a “big problem” is identified

Yamaha’s recent upturn in form vanished on Friday in practice for the Japanese MotoGP.

At the previous rounds, in Misano and Mandalika, Yamaha’s riders were able to put themselves into the top 10 in practice, a welcome boost after long periods of underperformance.

But at Motegi on Friday, Fabio Quartararo was 14th and teammate Alex Rins was 20th.

“It was so hard to manage the situation today,” said Rins.

“I was trying to give my 100%, but something is not working.

“Fabio and I are having similar problems. We lack traction and edge grip.

“This track's main characteristic is hard braking, but we are having more problems than we expected with the hard front. So, we need to check why.”

Quartararo added: “We struggled today. It seems that the track affects the performance of our bike.

“If the grip at the track is good, we are not so bad, but if the track has low grip, we are far from the pole position times. We are lacking rear grip, and this makes it difficult.”

Team manager Massimo Meregalli said: “Motegi is a particular track, and it doesn't play to our strengths.

“A lack of grip seems to be a big problem as well. It prohibits Fabio and Alex from pushing to the fullest as it affects braking, cornering, and lean angle.

“It's disappointing after having been inside the Practice top 10 in Misano and Mandalika, but somehow, knowing the characteristics of this circuit, we already expected that this GP would be difficult.

“That said, we will continue to search for improvements throughout this weekend. We will analyse the data carefully to find a solution that we can try tomorrow.”

Remy Gardner is a wildcard for Yamaha this weekend, giving them a third bike on-track.

He was at the back of the grid after Friday practice in 23rd because he was focused on analysing prototype parts.

Gardner said: “It was a tough day. The bad weather in FP1 didn't help.

“At least we had some stable conditions this afternoon. I could have used that lost bit of time in FP1 to get used to the bike and the tyres again and get up to speed.

“But, overall, the day was not too bad. The most important thing is that we are trying the new items and are collecting useful data which Yamaha can use as a direction for the 2025 bike.”

Kazutoshi Seki, the test team leader, said: “Though we were a bit unlucky with the weather this morning, we proceeded with the testing as originally planned and were still able to make a solid start to our programme, especially in the afternoon.

“For this weekend, we have fitted Remy's two YZR-M1s with various 2025 prototype items, and the objective is to evaluate all the items thoroughly. Tomorrow, we will use the sessions to continue to collect data that will be used in the further development of the bike.”