Pramac urges Yamaha to “bring something ASAP” as Miller, Razgatlioglu “suffer” in Catalunya Sprint

Pramac team director Gino Borsoi underlined the urgent need for more engine performance from the new Yamaha V4 after Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu “suffered” in Saturday’s Catalunya Sprint race.

While Razgatlioglu has struggled throughout the low-grip weekend, Miller secured direct Qualifying 2 access for the first time this season and achieved his best qualifying of the year in 11th place.

The Australian maintained that position on the opening lap but, like the other Yamaha riders, was powerless to defend on the long main straight.

Lead rider Fabio Quartararo admitted he “felt a bit stupid” on the straights as he slipped from seventh to 13th.

Alex Rins, Miller, Razgatlioglu and Yamaha wildcard Augusto Fernandez filled the final four positions at the chequered flag.

"As soon as possible"

“Unfortunately, in the race we suffered because of the difference in engine performance compared to the other manufacturers,” Borsoi said.

“Honestly, I am quite convinced that overall the bike itself is working well because otherwise we would not have been able to achieve the lap times we showed in qualifying.

“But in race conditions, when you are missing top speed and acceleration, the other riders pass you on the straights and then you can no longer ride the lines you want or push through the corners the way you need to.

“In the end, the biggest issue is that during the race we are not yet able to defend ourselves properly.

“We hope Yamaha can bring something as soon as possible to improve the engine performance, but this is also part of the development process and we need to continue working patiently.

“At the same time, the positive aspect is that the chassis and electronics seem to be moving in the right direction, and that gives us confidence for the future.”

Jack Miller: We're suffering too much on the straight

Miller agreed that Yamaha’s progress was being masked by the lack of straight-line performance.

“Honestly, for most of the lap I felt competitive. We‘ve clearly made a step forward with the chassis and with the front feeling of the bike, and the rear grip is also improving.

“But on the straight we are still suffering too much and every time I tried to prepare an overtake, the others could come back past again immediately.

“It‘s frustrating because I genuinely felt we had more pace than the final result shows, but at least we can see that the work we‘re doing on the bike is moving us in the right direction.”

Razgatlioglu: I forgot to activate the launch device

Razgatlioglu also had other issues.

“At the beginning of the race I made a mistake because I forgot to activate the launch device, so I immediately lost positions and from there it became very complicated,” said the WorldSBK champion, who has joined Quartararo in reverting to last year's front wing since Le Mans.

“The biggest issue is still the same: I‘m struggling a lot on corner entry and braking, especially here where the grip level is very strange and tyre management is extremely difficult.

“[On Friday] afternoon, when I followed Fabio [Quartararo], I improved by more than one second and that gave me motivation because I understood many things about how to ride this bike and use the tyres better.

“But after the qualifying crash I lost that feeling again and today I was not able to ride naturally or with enough confidence.

“Tomorrow will be another very difficult race because tyre management here is not easy at all, but we will analyse all the data tonight, try a few changes and once again I will do my best to improve.”