During the final day of pre-season MotoGP testing at Buriram, Alex Rins gave one of his Yamaha V4 motorcycles to teammate Fabio Quartararo, revealing the unusual arrangement amid the test. The Spaniard managed 54 laps over the day but ended up 20th on the combined timing sheets, trailing by 1.207 seconds. The decision to share the bike stemmed from Yamaha’s management rather than a mechanical failure, adding complexity to the test day.
Managing Testing Challenges With Limited Equipment
Rins described the day as difficult due to only having access to a single bike. He explained,
“A difficult day to manage with only one bike.”
Despite limited track time, the team attempted various settings and even ran a sprint race simulation, though it showed a significant gap compared to rival teams. He added that he tried switching to a new tire late in the day for a time attack but noticed reduced engine power likely connected to high mileage on the motor.
The Decision Behind Sharing a MotoGP Bike
Contrary to initial assumptions about mechanical troubles, Rins confirmed Yamaha management’s request to lend his second bike to Quartararo. He said,
“I gave it to Fabio, my other bike… I just had one bike. I gave my second bike to Fabio.”
The matter had been discussed the previous evening, with Rins consenting to support the team’s efforts by sharing resources.
“Yeah, yesterday, before dinner. They took me and said something, if I was agreed or not. I said to them, what do you want me to do? I need to give my bike to him. We need to keep working on this project. We need to be generous,”
he explained with a lighthearted tone.
Quartararo’s Late Test Constraints and Focus
Fabio Quartararo also confirmed that he could only use one bike during the final day, indicating that both of his primary M1 machines were unavailable. He mentioned,
“Today, the mileage of engines were over, so we had only one bike,”
but added that the limited test was sufficient for their immediate goals, focusing mostly on setup adjustments. Quartararo remains uncertain about the bike’s direction, forecasting a challenging first half of the season as they work toward improvements.
“I still haven’t really found a direction,”
he admitted.
“I think, like I said, the first maybe half of the year for us will be to figure out how it’s going and trying to improve our bike.”
Mixed Performance Insights From Buriram Testing
Rins was reticent when asked about the full potential of the Yamaha V4 debuting at the upcoming Thai Grand Prix, deferring to team leadership by saying,
“You need to ask our team manager and our bosses.”
When reminded of Yamaha’s forecast of a difficult start but gradual improvement, Rins acknowledged the challenge candidly:
“For sure, a rider is never prepared to be in the last positions. This is the truth.”
He accepted the tough outlook, adding,
“If they say that it’s going to be tough, they didn’t lie to you.”
Despite difficulties, the new V4 model nearly matched last year’s best lap times set by the previous inline-four machine. Leading riders including Rins, Quartararo, and Jack Miller were about one second behind Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi’s top 2026 lap, signaling competitive but still developing performance. During sprint race simulations, Quartararo and Rins lost roughly 0.9 to 1.0 seconds per lap compared to last year’s fastest efforts by Ai Ogura of Trackhouse Aprilia, mirroring the performance deficit observed in the previous season’s Thai Sprint race.
Frustrations and Mental Struggles in Pre-Season Testing
Quartararo’s frustration was evident following the test’s opening day, marked by an exasperated gesture toward his Yamaha M1. He reflected on his mental state, saying,
“Yesterday I arrived at too much, the level of frustration. Because I want to be fast, to see myself competitive, but I see that we are really far from that.”
To avoid burnout, he stressed the importance of managing pressure,
“So I don’t want to burn myself mentally, I just want to make my job and be more calm and try to manage what we can do, because to be pushing at 100% of the time, mentally is difficult.”
Rins mirrored this emotional struggle but emphasized his effort to process frustration constructively during riding.
“I try to analyse my [anger] when I’m riding. This is a characteristic that I was working for a long time, that when the bike doesn’t work, or when I couldn’t make a good lap time, on the in-box lap, I try to analyse all this frustration to arrive in the box in a better way,”
he said.
Upcoming Focus: Opening Practice at Thai Grand Prix
With the Buriram tests concluded under constrained conditions and clear challenges ahead, the Yamaha team turns its attention to the season-opening Thai Grand Prix. Opening practice is scheduled for Friday morning, where riders like Rins and Quartararo will seek to translate test lessons into stronger qualifying and race performances despite ongoing teething problems with the new V4 machine.
