Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP

Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP shows stronger race pace but struggles to recover from the back

Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP showed stronger race pace compared to practice at the Twin Ring Motegi, but Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu were unable to turn it into a significant result after starting 20th and 22nd respectively, finishing 16th and 17th.

GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN

SPRINT

Motegi (Japan), 3rd October 2026

16th

JACK MILLER
+21,894 / 12 LAPS

17th

TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU
+38,422

Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP faced another difficult race at the Twin Ring Motegi, with Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu forced to fight from the back of the grid after starting 20th and 22nd respectively. Both riders were able to produce a stronger pace in the race than they had shown during practice and qualifying, but the significant gap to the front at the start made any recovery extremely difficult.

The choice of the medium rear tyre, used by the majority of the grid, also proved challenging during the race, with a significant drop in performance affecting several riders. Despite this, Miller and Razgatlıoğlu were able to maintain lap times that, on pure race pace, would have placed them around the eighth to eleventh positions. Starting so far back, however, meant that they had to spend much of the race fighting through traffic and attempting to recover lost ground.

Razgatlıoğlu made good progress in the opening stages and climbed as high as 15th before making a mistake at Turn 1 on the ninth lap, which cost him several positions. The Turkish rider rejoined the race and continued to push in an attempt to recover, eventually crossing the finish line in 17th position. Miller, meanwhile, maintained a consistent pace throughout the race and finished just ahead of his teammate in 16th.

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GINO BORSOI
Team Director, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP

It’s clear that this was not one of our best Saturdays of the season. Unfortunately, we were not able to find the right balance on either bike, and as in Austria, we are struggling to find the right direction here as well. On top of that, like many riders from other manufacturers, we also suffered from the rear tyre today, which certainly did not help us.

I’m a little more satisfied with Toprak’s pace. He was able to make a step forward compared with a difficult Friday and also with Saturday morning, so I expect him to make another step tomorrow. The main question now is which tyre we will have to use for the race, because it looks like we may all be forced to use the hard rear, which nobody has tried yet.

So it could be a bit of a lottery tomorrow, unless they give us a slightly longer warm-up.

JACK MILLER
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Rider

After qualifying I was reasonably happy with the bike because I felt I had a fair bit more in the tank. Unfortunately, I made a couple of mistakes on my last lap and didn’t put everything together. I still managed a 1:43.6 despite a yellow flag, and the next lap was looking even better, but I made another mistake in the final sector and lost some time. So I felt there was definitely more potential there.

In the race, I was missing some confidence in the front end and I wasn’t able to brake as hard as I would have liked. I started to feel a little more comfortable towards the end as the bike became lighter, but just as things were starting to improve, I had a big moment and lost a few positions. I managed to save it, but there was a pretty big hole in my leathers afterwards. I had been running the medium rear because I preferred the stability, and the difference in grip compared with the soft wasn’t particularly big for us. The tyre was still working well on the right side, but it had a lot of blistering through the centre.

It looks like everyone will have to use the hard rear tomorrow, and nobody has done a single lap on it yet, not just us but anyone. So it’s going to be a bit of a lottery because we’ll have to understand the tyre very quickly and adapt the bike around it. Hopefully they give us a little more time in warm-up because we really need to understand how it works before the race.

TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP rider

Today was a strange day because we improved the first part of the braking, but then we lost a little in the second part. I was still struggling to stop the bike properly, and when you cannot stop the bike, you lose time everywhere because you carry too much speed into the corner and then also lose on acceleration.

In the Sprint, I started to understand better how I need to ride the bike. Towards the end, I was able to improve my braking and stop the bike without locking the front, and when we checked the data, I was much closer to Fabio in this area. Unfortunately, I found this understanding a little too late, but it is a positive step. I know now that I cannot ask for more engine braking than the bike can give me, so I need to adapt my braking style.

Tomorrow could be difficult for everyone because the medium tyre is struggling and we may have to use the hard tyre, which nobody has tried yet. We will have to understand it quickly, but I hope I can make another step and put everything together for the race.