123-race MotoGP rider may need another operation, he was in ‘bad shape’ at Thailand Grand Prix

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Yamaha suffered a poor start to the MotoGP campaign in Thailand and may have the slowest bike currently.

Fabio Quartararo was surprisingly slow all weekend as riders battled scorching temperatures at the Buriram circuit.

His teammate Alex Rins was even worse off and finished 17th, the second slowest of the full-time runners who didn’t experience any incidents.

Most disappointingly for Yamaha, is that pre-season testing at Sepang indicated they might have the second fastest bike this year.

Quartararo was in disbelief at Yamaha’s testing performance after finishing inside the top three of all three days of running in Malaysia, before dropping off again in Buriram.

There was a cause for their drop-off, with Quartararo blaming a ‘big problem’ in Buriram after struggling to sustain his front tyres for as long as his rivals.

READ MORE: Luca Marini offers assertive Yamaha theory for Alex Rins’ career-worst MotoGP season

Alex Rins may need another operation after struggling at MotoGP’s Thailand Grand Prix

After suffering a huge accident during the 2023 Italian Grand Prix weekend, it took well over one year for Rins to recover after having metal plating removed from his right ankle.

That forced him to sit out of the majority of his final MotoGP season with Honda, returning only for the season-closer in Valencia.

After a tough start with Yamaha, he signed a two-year extension last summer which sees him tied to the team until 2026.

Giovanni Zamagni has warned that the Spaniard may require further surgery after witnessing his struggles in Thailand.

“Rins, unfortunately, I continue to think that physically he is not right,” he said.

“I heard that perhaps he needs to undergo another operation, and let’s remember this injured leg at Mugello in 2023. In short, he is physically in bad shape. He is too conditioned physically.”

READ MORE: Alex Rins admits the one thing he ‘cannot’ do to match Yamaha teammate Fabio Quartararo

Was the Thailand Grand Prix an exception rather than the rule for Yamaha?

Although Yamaha were slower than they expected to be in Buriram, Jack Miller did show that their bike has some pace for Pramac by challenging for the top 10.

Quartararo says riders were on the ‘limit’ in Thailand due to the heat, and that they were not helped by the situation. It may be that their cooling is less effective than their rivals.

The upcoming Argentina Grand Prix is expected to be slightly less taxing, with temperatures nearly 10 degrees Celsius cooler than they were in Buriram.

It’s still going to be a challenge for riders though, with the first event on a track they have not tested at set to throw up some curveballs. Yamaha will be hoping that things go their way.