Marco Bezzecchi
Yamaha first unveiled their new V4-powered M1 prototype in the midst of last season and have been working on perfecting it in time for the 2026 MotoGP season ever since. However, Jack Miller’s data from the Buriram test shows the stark reality of the little progress that engineers have made.
After starting last year’s campaign with the slowest bike on the grid, Yamaha fast-tracked their V4 project in the hope of providing Fabio Quartararo with a competitive bike to prevent the Frenchman from looking for greener pastures elsewhere.
Fast forward to pre-season for 2026, and the Japanese constructor is currently looking down the barrel of their worst-case scenario.
Quartararo is understood to have finalised an agreement with Honda for the 2027 MotoGP season, and Yamaha’s preparations for the upcoming term have been littered with a multitude of issues with the new M1.
Due to the 2021 world champion’s early move in the rider market, MotoGP pundit Neil Hodgson believes Quartararo will be the biggest disappointment of the season.
- READ MORE: Alex Rins hopes Yamaha will pay more attention to other riders now Fabio Quartararo is joining Honda
Should Yamaha pay less attention to Fabio Quartararo’s feedback in 2026?
Jack Miller’s race simulation data shows how little progress Yamaha have made over last three months
In a recent episode of the Paddock Pass podcast, MotoGP journalist Neil Morrison identified Jack Miller’s data from the race simulations he took part in at Buriram as a stark piece of evidence that suggests Yamaha have made no real progress over the winter break.
Miller and Yamaha flag-bearer Quartararo were a second off the pace upon the conclusion of the two-day test in Thailand, which may not seem all that bad at first glance.
However, Morrison identified a bigger issue from the data, saying, “When you look well into the longer runs, Jack Miller’s times were maybe two, two and a half, sometimes three, seconds slower than what the fastest guys were doing in their sprint or race simulations.
“So that can give you an indication that we can expect Yamaha to be 40–50 seconds off come the end of the race at round one, which is more or less where Augusto Fernandez was finishing with the V4 when he was making those three wildcard appearances at the end of last year.
“More than the performance, it was just the body language of Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins, and Toprak Razgatlioglu throughout the weekend, which indicated that it was a really, really tough situation.”
It’s a worrying statistic for Yamaha fans. Fernandez’s most recent wildcard appearance came at the final round of the 2025 term, where he finished second-to-last, behind Somkiat Chantra, some 36 seconds behind the leading pack.
- READ MORE: How Yamaha privately reacted to Fabio Quartararo’s frustration with V4 during the Buriram test
No Yamaha riders in the top ten for lap count in Buriram 😬 Will any of their riders score points at the Thailand Grand Prix?
Let us know in the comments below!
Toprak Razgatlioglu picked the worst possible time to move to MotoGP with Yamaha
In a move that would have been tough in normal circumstances, Toprak Razgatlioglu’s transition to MotoGP has been made even harder by Yamaha’s lack of competitiveness.
Razgatlioglu first tested Yamaha’s MotoGP machinery in 2022, after securing his first world title for the Japanese constructor in World Superbikes.
At the time, a move over to Grand Prix motorcycle racing never came to fruition, and the Turkish rider went on to claim two more championships in WSBK.
He became one of the most highly anticipated rookies in recent years following confirmation that he would be joining the premier class in 2026, but any expectations of him may have already gone down the drain, considering the current state of the M1.
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