The ‘normality’ hopes for Yamaha after Spanish MotoGP podium return

Yamaha managing director Paolo Pavesio says the marque’s podium return at the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix came “quicker than we could expect”.

Yamaha went without a podium in the premier class prior to last Sunday’s Spanish GP since the 2023 Indonesian GP, while its pole drought extended further to the 2022 Indonesian GP.

Fabio Quartararo ended both of those waits last weekend at Jerez, snatching pole with a new lap record before holding double world champion Pecco Bagnaia at bay to finish second on his factory M1.

It marks a significant step for the rebuilding Yamaha project, with Pavesio admitting that it came sooner than expected.

Prior to Jerez, Quartararo was yet to crack the top five in a grand prix - though Pramac’s Jack Miller was fifth at Austin, albeit in a race in which there were several crashes ahead of him.

Pavesio believes Yamaha’s podium return is “important for the programme” and hopes it leads this result to “becoming normal again”.

“No, we are satisfied of course, and we said at the beginning of the season that our target was to come fighting in the top five,” Pavesio told the official MotoGP website.

“And we know when fighting in the top five something more can come.

“It came, to be very honest, maybe quicker than we could expect and we are super happy about it.

“More important is that it came after a very solid weekend.

“Fabio was fast consistently all weekend from FP1.

“And this is important for him, but it’s important for the programme, all the people working on it, it gives a boost and this is why we are here - to try and have this special emotion coming more often and maybe becoming normal again.”

Quartararo urged caution after his podium about raising expectations, as he felt Yamaha had “skipped steps” in its return to the rostrum.

However, there is reason for Yamaha to be optimistic heading into the next rounds after a test of a new engine at Jerez on Monday yielded positive results.