Yamaha Issues & Fixes: What’s Going Wrong?

One more weekend, at the end of the MotoGP United States Grand Prix, Fabio Quartararo was not happy with the performance of the new Yamaha with a V4 enginewhich continues to occupy the back of the grid as the bike with the most disadvantages, compared to its other four rivals in the championship.

The ‘Diablo’ finished the third round of the 2026 season without scoring, being eleventh in the sprint on Saturday, as the best Yamaha, and 17th in the long race on Sunday, 27 seconds behind the winnerMarco Bezzecchi (thus losing more than a second per lap) and behind his two brand mates from the Pramac teamToprak Razgatlioglu -who scored his first point in the premier class- and Jack Miller.

After another dull Sunday day, Quartararo, who seems to be counting the days he has left to disassociate himself from the project and head to Honda for 2027, was clear in statements to ‘Canal+ France’ when asked what conclusions he can draw from a race as difficult as the Circuit of the Americas.

“I really don’t think there’s anything to take away from a race like this.“, the 2021 world champion began by saying. “This Sunday we had a very bad time; The bike changes a lot. I try to do things a little differently, experiment during the race, because in the end We are so far away that I have been able to try some small details, but it is clear that it is not working“.

But perhaps most worrying is that, going forward, Quartararo does not expect a big change. The Frenchman anticipates that the campaign will be very longtaking into account that, as he explained, the Iwata house has “no idea” how to get their hands on the M1 to get out of the quagmire.

“I’m already expecting it to be a very long season. The team has no idea how to improve all the problems we have with the bike. But I think, mentally, we have to stay calm. We have had a race —it’s one less— and we have a month of rest ahead of us, so that will be good for us to disconnect completely,” he said.

Asked if the fact that it will be sunny in Jerez for the Spanish GP (April 24 to 26) can give the Yamaha better conditions, Quartararo was clear: “I think, rain or shine, I don’t know which is better, but I think, above all, [tenemos que] stop comparing lap times a little“.

“Because in the team we compare… Yes, in qualifying we were half a second faster than last year, while the others have gained a second. So it will also be good, even for the team, to see that the lap times are much slower than last year at circuits like Jerez and Le Mans. I think it will be good for the engineers to see it“, the Frenchman closed in a very clear tone.

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– The Motorsport.com team