Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Shows Signs of Progress Despite Difficult Sprint Race in Le Mans
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP continued its development work during Saturday’s Sprint Race at Le Mans, with both riders showing improved pace despite finishing towards the back of the field.
GRAND PRIX OF FRANCE
SPRINT
14th
TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU +16,968 / 13 LAPS
15th
JACK MILLER +17,603 / 13 LAPS
Saturday at Le Mans brought another challenging Sprint Race for Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, with Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Jack Miller once again battling in the second half of the field despite further signs of progress with the Yamaha YZR-M1 package.
While the final positions did not reflect the work carried out by the team in recent weeks, both riders were able to maintain a pace closer to the midfield group compared to previous races. The team continued evaluating the solutions introduced after the Jerez test, with several positive indications emerging over race distance. Although there is still work to do the overall feeling within the garage is that the gap to the midfield is gradually closing.
Another positive sign came from the overall competitiveness of the Yamaha package at Le Mans, further confirming the progress being made on the new-generation YZR-M1. The team now hopes that Sunday’s forecasted rain could create conditions more suited to the characteristics shown by the bike so far this season, as Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP has consistently proven more competitive in mixed and wet conditions.
The French Grand Prix, scheduled over 27 laps, will start on Sunday at 2:00 PM local time.
GINO BORSOI Team Director, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP
Obviously these are not the positions we want to be fighting for, nor the ones we believe reflect the effort being put into this project. Still, I am convinced that after the Jerez test we found some positive directions, and in the second half of today’s race our pace was actually not far from the midfield group, which realistically is where we should be aiming to fight at the moment.
We are slowly closing the gap, even if the final result still looks disappointing. The important thing right now is continuing to reduce the distance to the middle of the pack and building from there.
One positive aspect today was Quartararo’s result and performance. He had a very strong race and finished less than five seconds from the winner, which shows that the level of the bike has improved significantly. It confirms that the potential is there if we can put all the pieces together correctly.
The bike is getting closer to where it needs to be, and now we simply have to continue working.
TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP rider
Overall, my weekend has been positive because I improved in every session. Even this morning we tried a different setup and I immediately felt better again in qualifying. From the first session of the weekend I improved by almost one second per lap, so this is definitely something positive — but of course I still need much more.
In the race I still felt some of the same problems, but I think it’s a combination of both myself still needing to improve and the bike still needing more work. I understand that I’m not yet 100% confident when entering the corners, and when you are struggling a little on corner entry and stopping the bike properly, then you also cannot fully take advantage of the acceleration on corner exit.
So of course I’m not happy with the position, but at the same time I’m happy with how much I’m learning and how much we are understanding about the bike every weekend.
If it stays dry tomorrow there are still a few things we would like to try during warm-up. If it rains, then the focus will simply be on preparing as best as possible for a wet race.
JACK MILLER Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Rider
Today I pushed at the maximum from beginning to end, but unfortunately it still wasn’t enough. During the race I struggled to get the rear of the bike to respond the way I wanted, especially when trying to maximise the drive out of the corners.
At one point in Turn 9 I got blocked by the rider in front of me and had to cut across the chicane to avoid contact, which cost me around a second. Small things like that make a big difference when the whole group is so close.
We’re still missing a bit compared to the others. On used tyres we were lapping in the high 1’31s, low 1’32s, and we know we need to improve that area. Of course I’m not happy with the position, but at the same time we have to remember this bike is still extremely new. The project is only a few months old, so we’re not even refining a solid base yet — we’re still building that foundation step by step.”
Team Director, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP
We are slowly closing the gap, even if the final result still looks disappointing. The important thing right now is continuing to reduce the distance to the middle of the pack and building from there.
One positive aspect today was Quartararo’s result and performance. He had a very strong race and finished less than five seconds from the winner, which shows that the level of the bike has improved significantly. It confirms that the potential is there if we can put all the pieces together correctly.
The bike is getting closer to where it needs to be, and now we simply have to continue working.