Marco Bezzecchi
Yamaha look to be in serious trouble heading into the 2026 season opener in Thailand, and Jack Miller’s race simulation in testing paints an alarming picture.
The Iwata outfit have been having problems with the V4 throughout pre-season. Issues with the engine hampered their outing at Sepang as they were forced to suspend activities on day two.
Will Fabio Quartararo see out the 2026 season with Yamaha?
Miller refused to answer questions about the subject in Malaysia, highlighting his and the team’s frustration. Things have not improved for the Pramac rider or his colleagues in Buriram.
Fabio Quartararo was seen raging with his bike as he encountered more issues with the V4 in Thailand. He later claimed that the machine is a second slower than last year, but Miller’s run during the test highlighted the sheer scale of the problem.
Jack Miller was ’40 to 50 seconds’ slower than the expected race winner’s pace in Thailand GP simulation
Miller went out for a race simulation during the second day of testing in Buriram. Pit lane reporter Jack Appleyard pointed out that, on average, he was up to two seconds slower than the anticipated pace of the race winner, making him ’40 to 50 seconds’ slower over a race distance.
Appleyard said on MotoGP’s Midday Live: “Yamaha, as we’ve been saying throughout the test, we sound like a broken record, but they’re not going to be fighting for a top 10.
“They’re not going to be fighting for a top five by any stretch of the imagination come round one, before we get to Europe. It’s a real challenge for them at the moment.
“We saw Jack Miller go out and do a full race simulation of about 21, 22 laps, and he looks, on average, about a second and a half, two seconds a lap slower than what we anticipate the race winner to be doing on Sunday.
“They’re going to be 40 to 50 seconds adrift of the race winner this time next week. But we’ve kind of anticipated that, Jack, we’ve said on After The Flag, is really taking it with a sensible, big picture, long-term view.”
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Miller was the fastest Yamaha rider on day two of the Buriram test in P16, with his best time being one second slower than Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, who set a new lap record.
Quartararo was P17, just 29 hundredths of a second behind Miller. Alex Rins and Toprak Razgatlioglu were 20th and 21st, respectively, only beating Ducati reserve rider Michele Pirro, with the latter over two seconds slower than Bezzecchi.
Predict the order of the Yamaha riders in the 2026 MotoGP standings
Alarm bells will be ringing at Yamaha as they look miles off the pace of their rivals. 2026 was going to be a learning year and one focused on development, but they would not have expected to be this far behind.
Neil Hodgson thinks Quartararo will be the biggest let-down in 2026. Amid the rumours that he is heading to Honda, he does not expect the Frenchman to perform as he turns his back on the Yamaha project.
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