In early July, Yamaha announced a partnership with Prima Pramac Racing in MotoGP, establishing it as a satellite team that will essentially work as a second factory team. This support and partnership are much closer than what the manufacturer had with its previous satellite teams, aiming to accelerate bike development.
One of Yamaha’s riders is the 2021 world champion, Fabio Quartararo, who renewed his contract this year until the end of 2026. In a press conference, he acknowledged that having a satellite team was part of the negotiations for his new contract:
– There were many things. Of course one of the first things that we talked about when we were negotiating was having a full factory satellite team, that I think is going to help us a lot. Of course improving our testing and many other things that will come during the year. But this was something super important for us to have an improvement for our bike.
To join Yamaha, Pramac ended a nearly 20-year collaboration with Ducati. The team’s riders will have direct contracts with Yamaha, and this week Sky Sport Italia reported that Miguel Oliveira is very close to being one of the chosen riders.