MotoGP | Quartararo Recipe: Two Expert Riders in Pramac and Augusto Tester

Since Prima Pramac Racing was announced as Yamaha’s new satellite team starting from the 2025 season, Fabio Quartararo has changed his mind several times about what could be the ideal formation to help Yamaha develop an M1 that is struggling to find its way back to competitiveness on the MotoGP grid.

Given that Miguel Oliveira’s signature was practically a given, “El Diablo” had initially supported the candidacy of Fabio Di Giannantonio, but in the end the Roman rider decided to renew with VR46, also because for him the possibility of riding a Desmosedici GP25 identical to those of Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez materialized.

At that point, the 2020 world champion thought that the right choice could be to focus on a young rider, first indicating Sergio Garcia and then his friend Tony Arbolino as the most interesting alternatives in the Moto2 panorama.

This possibility did not materialize, because Dorna pushed to not lose the only Australian rider on the grid, so they are moving towards hiring Jack Miller. However, Fabio seems to be putting a good face on a bad situation, because today in Austria he gave his approval to a lineup of experienced riders.

“It’s difficult to say, but in the end we don’t have time to fix the bike. We have to improve quickly and it’s true that with two experienced riders this process can go faster. A young rider, of course, is great for the future. Fermin Aldeguer, for example, will go to Ducati, where the bike already works well and so he can think about building his future,” Quartararo said.

“At the moment, it is true that we need an experienced driver, but it also depends on the length of the drivers’ contracts. Both options are really good. I don’t want to get into that though, because in the end, having a young driver or an experienced driver, you can find advantages in both ways. But it is true that with the time we have available, even two experienced drivers is not bad,” he added.

Another hot topic of the French rider’s chat with the media was the possible arrival of Augusto Fernandez as a test rider, anticipated by Motorsport.com about ten days ago. A solution that was apparently recommended by Quartararo himself to the Iwata manufacturer.

“I’ve been pushing for a few months now to have a test rider who has recently raced in MotoGP. A hungry rider like Augusto. He’s one of the names I’ve been pushing for a few months now.”

“He’s young and, if he goes well, he’ll definitely do some wild cards with Yamaha next year. If he does a good job, he could have the chance to return to the World Championship full-time. I think it’s very important to find a rider who wants to come back and who can give correct information.”

For his part, the Spanish rider thanked his colleague for the trust he has shown in him: “Now that Fabio is talking about it, I will talk about it too. Fabio came to me a few races ago to tell me that Yamaha is creating a new test team, that they need a good rider, and he thought of me. The first thing that came to mind was to retire, but then I thought about it and I think it is the best opportunity to stay in this paddock, rather than going to the Superbike World Championship”, said Augusto Fernandez.

“I could get on a factory bike, do a lot of testing and also fight for a lot of wild cards. And if I can do well, my plan is to get back on the grid. So I want to do it, but to get back here. The deal is not done yet, we are still talking and it is a question of details. But yes, I see this as the best opportunity. “

“I will be 28 in 2027, with a lot to do. Look at the age of Aleix Espargaro and other riders. I don’t think I’m finished with MotoGP. So I will approach this period, maybe two years, differently, working hard to get back to a competitive level and deserve a bike at Yamaha,” he concluded.

Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images