Prima Pramac makes switch to Yamaha from 2025

Prima Pramac Racing have agreed a multi-year deal to switch to Yamaha bikes from next season.

Contract:

• Pramac chief executive Paolo Campinotti tells Italian website GPOne the contract is for seven years
• The collaboration includes a future Moto2 project to develop MotoGP talent

Context:

The reigning champions have opted out of their deal with Ducati, currently the best manufacturer in MotoGP and their partner of two decades, and instead chosen the Japanese manufacturer that has gone backwards since winning the title with Fabio Quartararo in 2021.

This deal works for both sides, though. Yamaha has been without a satellite team for the past two seasons, while Pramac receives the security of a seven-year contract. Plus, the Italian outfit will receive full factory bikes from Yahama, making it more an extension of the full works team rather than a satellite entry.

Comment:

Lin Jarvis, managing director of Yamaha Motor Racing, said: “These are busy times for Yamaha, both on track and behind the scenes. Yamaha Motor Co (YMC) and Yamaha Motor Racing (YMR) have made it no secret that they are putting all their effort into bike development.

“We now enter the next phase – one that we have been looking forward to for a long time: the arrival of a second Yamaha team.

“The new partnership with Prima Pramac Racing will take a different form than we have used in the past.

“Rather than a satellite team, with this new agreement Yamaha have put their trust in Pramac Racing, and we will be providing them with Factory bikes of the same specification used by the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team.

“The targets are to accelerate bike development, which remains YMC and YMR’s key priority in our quest to return to winning ways, as well as having four competitive riders in the MotoGP championship in two top-class teams.“

Coming next:

After 192,554 people turned out at Assen – MotoGP’s largest crowd in the Netherlands since 1995 – the series moves on to the Sachsenring in Germany for its next round from 5th to 7th July.

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