In-demand Moto2 star told to shun Yamaha, there's a better idea for MotoGP future

For what was meant to be a quiet year in the MotoGP rider market looking to 2026, it has arguably been the most intriguing contract cycle in years. Though nothing ever came of the bombshell Jorge Martin Aprilia contract saga, nor Pedro Acosta’s flirtations with VR46 and Honda, it certainly dragged out a silly season that mostly looked a formality.

But as the Hungarian Grand Prix gets underway, Honda is yet to actually confirm who will ride its available factory and LCR seats (though they will belong to Luca Marini and Johann Zarco, and most likely Diogo Moreira too), while VR46 hasn’t announced Franco Morbidelli’s future, even if he is pretty safe in his surroundings.

Yamaha, though, is where all the intrigue is. Gaining a major PR win earlier this summer by finally snaring double World Superbike champion Toprak Razgatlioglu to a MotoGP deal to join Pramac, the occupier of the M1 alongside him has yet to be determined.

Miguel Oliveria came into the season with a two-year contract, but that has increasingly looked like it was as watertight as a sieve. Jack Miller only had a one-year contract under his belt, but his solid form and vast knowledge of a V4 engine has for a long time made him the favourite to remain at Pramac.

However, as of Thursday at Balaton Park, nothing had progressed and Miller’s patience was being tested.

“I’ve been more than patient enough. If you want me, you want me. If you don’t, you don’t. It’s as clear as that,” he fumed to the media. “I have options and I’m going to move forward with those options if it doesn’t come quickly.”

Those options appear to be in World Superbikes, which is a move that has loomed over Miller for some time as he hits the decade mark of his MotoGP career with just four grands prix victories to show for his efforts.

Miller, as is his right, is now turning up the heat on negotiations. But Yamaha boss Paolo Pavesio  buckling when confronted with the Australian’s comments on the MotoGP world feed during Hungarian Grand Prix practice.

“Maybe he was also running out of patience at the continued questions,” said Pavesio. “Jack knows what is going on. We are in constant communication. When we will be ready to make an announcement, he will be the first to know. There is no deadline when you have a direct, open, transparent relationship with you rider.”

The hold up on Miller’s MotoGP future appears to centre on Yamaha’s hopes to snare one of two top Moto2 stars. In recent days, Diogo Moreira revealed he had an offer on the table to join Yamaha next season. Reports from Spain now claim he has elected to go with Honda to take over the LCR seat currently owned by Somkiat Chantra, whose woeful rookie campaign has prompted a total rethink by HRC for how it manages the Idemitsu-backed side of that garage.

This has all seemingly thrust Manuel Gonzalez into the spotlight for a Yamaha promotion.

The 23-year-old currently leads the championship in his fourth season in Moto2 having won four times from the first 13 rounds. He has had a consistent campaign and looks to be the more rounded rider compared to Moreira who, while arguably possessing better outright speed, is still erratic. Gonzalez, then, is an understandable rider of interest for Yamaha.

Yamaha can’t afford two rookies right now

The problem Yamaha faces, though, is that its project is clearly not advancing as much as the investment it has been making suggests. At the Austrian Grand Prix, its bikes occupied the last four spots in the race. The closest it came to the winner was 25.256 seconds.

There were factors to consider, like the stiffer rear tyre carcass brought by Michelin accentuating Yamaha’s rear grip issues. But that tyre was the same for everybody, and relevant rival Honda managed a sixth-place finish with Joan Mir a full 15 seconds up the road.

There have, of course, been a lot of positives for Yamaha. It scored a second-place finish at Jerez with Fabio Quartararo and a third in the wet Germany sprint. Quartararo has been on pole four times, too. But the 2021 world champion is the one making the difference for Yamaha, while the rest of the stable’s form is probably a more accurate overall representation of where the bike is truly at right now.

Quartararo is growing increasingly frustrated. In Hungary, he called on Yamaha to give him the V4 to test if it is half a second slower than the current bike. Testing has continued in private, but current comments have the new bike at around two seconds per laps slower than the 2025 bike. Yamaha is said to be approaching the V4 extremely cautiously, adding power very slowly in a bid to avoid reliability problems.

Once the V4 is race ready, it will still need a lot of time to be understood and maximised. Quartararo has no V4 experience, while Alex Rins barely does from his sole, injury-hit season on the Honda in 2023. Toprak Razgatlioglu is learning MotoGP entirely next year, and is really being deployed to help develop the M1 around Pirelli rubber.

Adding Gonzalez to that mix doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Miller, with his experience of Honda, Ducati and KTM machinery, understands V4s. He’s won on V4s. And he’s the second-best rider Yamaha have got currently behind Quartararo.

So much hinges on Yamaha getting its V4 right, because Quartararo isn’t likely to willingly sign on for another two years beyond next season if he doesn’t have a bike under him he feels he can fight for titles on. With open season coming in the rider market, he will be a coveted piece by quite a few brands.

It’s hard to see how Yamaha gets to a competitive V4 bike without Miller helping guide development. Equally, it’s hard to look past Yamaha courting Gonzalez as insurance to hopefully bag a future MotoGP stud in the very real scenario it loses the best rider it has had in a long time in Quartararo.

Gonzalez set to hold big rider market value

Paddock gossip suggests this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix is the crunch time for Yamaha to make a decision. According to respected journalist and commentator Neil Morrison, Gonzalez’s Intact GP Moto2 have extended Yamaha’s deadline for talks to this weekend as it wants to get on with planning its 2026 campaign.

The offer of a MotoGP promotion is not to be sniffed at by any rookie. But Gonzalez’s name has swirled around the rider market rumours for a while and his current form is only likely to make him of key interest to a number of parties for 2027.

With 2027 deals likely to be signed very early next year and with all factories set to hit the negotiating table, Gonzalez can reasonably risk biding his time.

For starters, if Yamaha is dead keen on him now, it will be still for 2027. Miller staying for next year will almost certainly be on a single-season contract, keeping its options open. Gonzalez, then, can wait and see how the Yamaha project progresses while at the same time engaging in discussions with other interested suitors.

When a manufacturer likes a young talent, it will make a move pretty quickly. Ducati had Fermin Aldeguer locked into a contract for 2025 before the 2024 Moto2 season had even started. Aldeguer did have a tricky campaign, but that was largely a result of the switch to Pirellis. That’s not something Gonzalez is going to have to contend with if he stays in Moto2 in 2026.

Aldeguer’s Ducati move also highlights what a rookie can achieve when they are able to adapt to the premier class on a competitive package. Though his year has gone awry somewhat, Ai Ogura kicked off his 2025 on the Trackhouse Aprilia strongly too.

Heading into next season, the pecking order does appear to be closing up, with Aprilia and KTM taking steps towards Ducati while Honda isn’t looking too far behind either. With a 2027 rules reset on the horizon, partnering with a manufacturer already in a good place will be crucial. That’s not something you can say of Yamaha right now.

If Gonzalez ultimately does take up an offer from Yamaha for 2026, then you can’t blame him for seizing the opportunity. And maybe he’ll breakout early on and steer Yamaha towards better things. But, at this stage, there is potentially more to gain by letting all of the pieces fall into place first…