Jack Miller had a flawless race in the USA and is the first pursuer of Ducati – Fabio Quartararo had problems after crashing on the inspection lap.
Yamaha had two highlights at the Grand Prix of America at the Circuit of The Americas. In the sprint, Fabio Quartararo took sixth place and was the first Ducati pursuer. In the Grand Prix, Jack Miller saved Yamaha’s bacon by finishing fifth.
“The bike worked well,” said the Pramac rider. “I got off to a decent start, and that was half the battle. The first lap in particular was pretty chaotic, with all the wet spots.”
“When you’re in the middle of the pack, you can’t really see what’s happening in front of you. You’re basically following blindly. But yes, I got off to a good start and was then able to find my rhythm. My rhythm was around 2:03 minute laps.“
”I think I did my best lap about six laps before the end. I really tried to save the soft tire until the end so that there would be enough grip left. And it worked. The bike was running well, I’m satisfied.”
“It feels good to be back in the top five and to have had a solid race without any real mistakes in such difficult conditions,” Miller nodded with satisfaction. ‘It was a good day – you have to take the small successes when they come.’
Turbulent Sunday for Fabio Quartararo
In tenth place in the championship, the Australian is also the best Yamaha rider after three race weekends. Quartararo had a turbulent Sunday. On his way to the starting grid on the reconnaissance lap, he crashed on a wet track while on slicks.
“I don’t understand how I crashed. The asphalt looked relatively dry. I wasn’t even pushing and I lost control of the front wheel. It was a strange crash – especially because it was the first one this year, and the first one in a long time.”
Drama and the Grand Prix hasn’t even started! Quartararo has crashed in his 2nd sighting lap AmericasGP pic. twitter.com/rUkpHPeBDL
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) March 30, 2025
“But yes, I couldn’t understand what happened,” Quartararo puzzles. This had a decisive impact, because he had to ride the second motorcycle, which was technically completely different.
“Unfortunately, I had to ride a bike with a different chassis and different linkage. There was a problem with the electronics. From the fourth lap, the fuel warning light came on and I had to change a lot of mappings. The performance was not there.”
At Yamaha, potential is recognized again
The former world champion eventually saw the checkered flag in tenth place. His performance in the sprint and Miller’s good race nevertheless give Quartararo encouragement. Because after two race weekends without race pace, the potential of the M1 was back in Austin.
“Yes, the potential was there,” confirms Quartararo. “And as I said, the biggest problem for me was the electronics. That bothered me the most. On top of that, I had a completely different bike – a different chassis, different linkage, different set-up.“
”I went straight into the race with it without having tried it out beforehand. But the crash on the sighting lap was my mistake. It was just a complete mess. But we take the positives from the sprint – I was able to fight.”
Quartararo is currently ranked 14th in the World Championship standings. Teammate Alex Rins crossed the finish line directly behind him in eleventh place – around six seconds behind. The reason for this was a situation on the first lap. Rins dropped back to 19th place.
“The start was good. On the first lap, there was a touch, which dropped me back to last place. Step by step, I was able to fight my way back up the field and finish in eleventh place,” said Rins.
Has he made progress with his feel for the M1? ”We were able to understand the bike and the set-up better. We made a significant change to the set-up compared to Saturday. In the warm-up, we took a first step that was positive.“
”Then we took another step for the race,” said Rins. Augusto Fernandez, who replaced the injured Miguel Oliveira in the Pramac team, finished 13th. Yamaha remains last in the manufacturers’ championship.
The next race will take place in two weeks at the Lusail Circuit in Qatar. Can Yamaha achieve a highlight there again? “Qatar is a completely different track again,” Miller looks ahead. “But I think it suits Yamaha more than Argentina, for example.”
