Pramac claim "gap has closed; Yamaha will do anything..."

Pramac Yamaha owner Paolo Campinoti has spoken about the change in machinery from Ducati to Yamaha in MotoGP, saying that he hopes strong results “arrive sooner than expected”.

While the Desmosedici has been the dominant bike in MotoGP for at least the past three seasons, Yamaha’s YZR-M1 is without a race win since the summer of 2022.

The acquisition of Pramac as its official satellite team has made the Italian squad a part of Yamaha’s rebuild that the Japanese marque will eventually see it back on the top step and fighting for world titles.

Campinoti described the prospect of returning to the front of MotoGP with Yamaha as “a great, important, beautiful challenge,” in an interview with Corriere Della Sera.

“I hope it will be in the short-to-medium term, that the results will arrive sooner than expected.

“We have already seen some signs: the Japanese are investing heavily. And then we started with Moto2. It will give us even more strength in the future.”

Campinoti continued, explaining how the progression of Yamaha is detectable: “From the times on the track, the gap has closed a bit. And then by methods, by resources.

“A company like Yamaha, which has always been the reference, cannot accept a supporting role. They will do anything to get back to the top.

“And we with them, with Jack Miller, a rider I've already had; with Miguel Oliveira, a prepared guy; and with [Tony] Arbolino and [Izan] Guevara in Moto2.”

Jorge Martin 'bad luck' rued

Campinoti and Pramac left Ducati for Yamaha at the end of last year having won the teams’ title in 2023 and the riders’ title with Jorge Martin in 2024.

While Pramac’s downturn in results at the beginning of 2025 could be expected with the change in machinery from the Desmosedici to the YZR-M1, Martin’s absence from the opening races could not be anticipated as it is a result of two preseason crashes – one in testing, a second in training.

They are incidents that Campinoti has put down to bad luck.

“Jorge [Martin] is a golden boy,” the Pramac Racing boss said. “There is a special relationship with him. He lives a really unlucky year, everything that can go wrong goes wrong for him.”

He added: "Bad luck. They are used to falling and usually don't hurt themselves. This time in two flights he broke his hand, a foot. He will miss two more GPs".

The 2025 season has thus become more about learning the Aprilia RS-GP for Martin, rather than defending his MotoGP crown.

“He will need time when he returns, he will have to find confidence in himself and in the Aprilia he does not know,” Campinoti said.

“Ducati has a very strong, well-established team, unless they implode they will win.”