Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP continues positive momentum at Balaton in competitive Sprint race
The characteristics of the Balaton circuit and the continued development of the Yamaha YZR-M1 allow both Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Jack Miller to fight more consistently within the midfield group, with Toprak climbing from 18th to 13th in the Sprint.
GRAND PRIX OF HUNGARY
SPRINT
Balaton (Hungary), 06th June 2026
13th
TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU +14,173 / 13 LAPS
14th
JACK MILLER +15,799 / 13 LAPS
The Balaton Grand Prix Sprint race provided further confirmation of the progress Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP has been making in recent races. As expected, the stop-and-go nature of the Hungarian circuit, combined with the growing confidence of the riders and the ongoing development of the Yamaha YZR-M1, allowed the team to be more competitive throughout the 13-lap contest.
After narrowly missing out on Q2 and starting from 18th on the grid, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu delivered an aggressive and determined ride, gaining five positions over the course of the race. The Turkish rider consistently fought within the midfield group and crossed the finish line in 13th place.
Jack Miller also showed solid pace throughout the Sprint. Starting from 12th on the grid, the Australian remained involved in several close battles and defended his position to secure 14th place at the chequered flag.
With the longer Grand Prix race still to come on Sunday, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP will look to build on the encouraging signs shown throughout the Balaton weekend.
GINO BORSOI Team Director, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP
Overall, the weekend has been going quite well so far. Since Friday, Toprak has consistently shown the pace to be inside the top ten. He struggled a little more in qualifying, but that was something we expected because we are still not able to fully exploit the extra grip offered by the soft tyre.
What was encouraging once again is what happened during the race. Just as we saw in Mugello, from the middle of the Sprint onwards our pace was much closer to the front runners, often within around half a second per lap. That confirms once again that, on used tyres, the gap is not as large as the final positions might suggest.
Jack also delivered a very solid race, fighting hard throughout the Sprint and showing competitive pace. Both riders were able to be much more involved in the battles around them than on some of the previous circuits.
Of course, these are not yet the positions we ultimately aspire to fight for, but the signs are positive. If we can repeat this level of performance in tomorrow’s Grand Prix, it would be another important step forward for the project.
TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP rider
The race was not too bad overall. I lost quite a lot of time at the start, especially in the first corner, and that made the opening laps difficult. From that point on, I focused on finding my rhythm and my pace improved as the race went on.
The positive thing is that I’m much happier with the bike under braking now. We found some improvements in Mugello and continued in the same direction here, which has given me more confidence entering the corners.
Our main limitation is still on acceleration and corner exit. We know where we are losing performance and the engineers can clearly see it in the data. We are working to improve the first touch of the throttle because that area is costing us a lot of drive and grip.
Even with those difficulties, I’m enjoying this circuit and I feel competitive in several sectors, especially through the chicanes. If we can make another small step tomorrow, I believe we can improve our pace again and have a stronger race.
JACK MILLER Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Rider
It was a more difficult day for us today. The conditions were quite challenging and we struggled a bit more than we did yesterday, so now the focus is on analysing all the data and understanding what we can improve for tomorrow.
The race itself wasn’t too bad. I was running reasonably well until I got involved in a battle with Ai Ogura. We went back and forth a few times and, while trying to stay with him, I lost a bit of my rhythm and that affected the final laps of the Sprint.
The hotter conditions made things more complicated. Compared to Friday, grip levels felt lower and tyre management became much more critical. Throughout the race, I was constantly trying to keep the tyre temperature under control and that made it difficult to fully exploit the bike’s potential.
Even so, we gathered a lot of useful information. We know which areas need improvement and we'll use everything we've learned today to try and take another step forward in tomorrow’s Grand Prix.
Team Director, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP
What was encouraging once again is what happened during the race. Just as we saw in Mugello, from the middle of the Sprint onwards our pace was much closer to the front runners, often within around half a second per lap. That confirms once again that, on used tyres, the gap is not as large as the final positions might suggest.
Jack also delivered a very solid race, fighting hard throughout the Sprint and showing competitive pace. Both riders were able to be much more involved in the battles around them than on some of the previous circuits.
Of course, these are not yet the positions we ultimately aspire to fight for, but the signs are positive. If we can repeat this level of performance in tomorrow’s Grand Prix, it would be another important step forward for the project.