Driver earthquake at Yamaha: Quartararo expresses doubts about strategy

– Yamaha is completely restructuring for MotoGP 2027. After failing to retain Fabio Quartararo, the departure of Alex Rins from the Japanese factory team was recently made public. Ai Ogura is set to take his place, forming the duo for the new era of regulations alongside Jorge Martin.

The deal with both has not yet been officially confirmed, but internally the course is considered set. While Quartararo publicly distances himself noticeably from the personnel decisions of his (still) employer, there are already much clearer signals coming from Ogura’s circle.

Trackhouse does not want another rookie for now

Trackhouse team boss Davide Brivio confirmed his departure at the end of the season to Sky during the last race weekend in Jerez and showed understanding: “It’s a bit of a shame, but everyone makes their own decisions.”

When signing Ogura, it was already factored in that after two years in the Trackhouse team he might look for a factory opportunity. “That’s part of the business,” said Brivio, who has already announced he will look for an alternative.

Photo series: The contract durations of current MotoGP riders

Many signs point to a strategic change at Trackhouse. Brivio made it clear that they want to rely more on experience: “I think so,” he replied to the question about an experienced replacement for Ogura. “I don’t think now is the right time to invest in a rookie,” said the team boss.

“We think experienced riders can help us better exploit the potential of the bike.” A clear departure from the previous youth strategy.

Quartararo indirectly supports Rins

Communication within the Yamaha camp itself remains reserved, especially from Quartararo. The 2021 world champion did not want to interfere in internal decision-making processes when asked about the latest developments.

“I don’t think it’s about whether someone is left out or not,” the Frenchman said when asked if Yamaha’s decision was made too early. “I don’t really want to comment on that.” At the same time, he emphasized that few can judge how competitive Yamaha currently is.

“It’s difficult to judge results when you compare our bike with the others,” said Quartararo. “Last year we got a few pole positions, but the bike was not fantastic.” Drawing the right conclusions for rider selection from that is problematic for the 27-year-old.

“If you choose a rider for the future based only on the results we had last year, then in my view that is not the right decision.”

Photo series: Yamaha: All MotoGP riders since 2002

Thus, Quartararo indirectly takes the side of teammate Rins, whose results in his view do not say much about actual performance because the bike was not competitive enough last year. This also applies to this season, after only a few, but difficult races with the new V4 bike.

At the same time, Quartararo makes it clear that he himself has no influence on Yamaha’s personnel policy: “I’m lucky that I’m not the one who chooses the riders. That’s their problem.” Therefore, he does not want to give a big assessment of the possible signing of Ogura and Martin for 2027.

Although he recognizes the quality of both, ultimately it does not matter to him: “To be honest, I don’t care. They are two good riders, but that is not important to me,” said Quartararo, who will switch to Honda in 2027.

And Ogura? The Japanese rider remains predictably reserved. When asked if he wanted to comment on the rumors about his future, he responded clearly and briefly: “No, nothing.”