Miguel Oliveira reveals area of struggle in Yamaha MotoGP adaptation
Pramac rider sheds light on his weakest point on M1
Miguel Oliveira says his Yamaha adaptation this MotoGP pre-season has been hindered by him “struggling mostly on the braking point”.
Oliveira joins Pramac for the satellite squad’s switch to Yamaha machinery in 2025, having previously ridden Aprilia and KTM bikes in his premier class tenure.
The Portuguese rider ended the Buriram test 19th on the timesheets, just under six tenths of a second behind 10th-placed team-mate Jack Miller.
While Miller has found his switch from KTM to Yamaha to be more straightforward than expected, Oliveira admits he is struggling to maximise braking performance on the M1 right now.
“Struggling mostly on the braking point, which I’m not able to really get the maximum out of the bike,” he said.
“But it takes time. The bike has a different technique, which you don’t do overnight, and this [Buriram] is the most extreme track where you spend most time on the braking points.
“So, not ideal. But, I feel I took a good step forward.
“I only did one time attack at the end, so you always have a little bit more in you in that second tyre.
“We’ll leave it for the GP and I’d say we are as ready as we can be to come here racing.”
At the Buriram test, factory Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo says he was limited by a lack of feeling from the front tyres available.
But Oliveira says this wasn’t the reason for his braking troubles.
“I don’t feel a limitation from the tyre or the front-end of the bike,” he said.
“It’s just the way you need to brake where I’m really struggling the most.
“It’s true that our bike, you need to basically the lap time by attacking a lot on the brakes because on the exit, with the lack of traction, we don’t gain that much on the new tyre.
“So, you basically have to do it all on the braking and that makes it harder on the tyre for sure.”
