Метка: Augusto Fernandez

Yamaha in talks to sign Fernandez to bolster MotoGP test team in 2025


Yamaha is holding dialogue with Tech3 outcast Augusto Fernandez to add him to an expanded MotoGP test team in 2025, Motosport.com can reveal.

The Japanese marque has been speeding up the development of its MotoGP bike in order to bridge the gap to its European rivals and especially Ducati, which is increasingly pulling away from the rest of the competitors.

First, it recruited a whole host of engineers and technicians from the Borgo Panigale marque, and then convinced 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo to sign a new multi-year contract through to 2026.

Having since added Pramac as a satellite team from 2025 in order to field four bikes on the grid, it has now turned its attention to the test team, which has been held back this year by the injury of Cal Crutchlow.

The British rider has been out of action for quite a while due to pain in his hand, which required surgery to fix, limiting Yamaha’s potential to make the most out of MotoGP’s new concession system.

Crutchlow was also forced to miss his home grand prix last week, which he had been due to compete in as a wildcard, dealing an additional blow to Yamaha’s hopes.

This has prompted the manufacturer to look for a second rider within its test team who could work alongside veteran Crutchlow next year.

«We want to strengthen the test team and sign a rider, but we are not thinking about a veteran or a retired rider. We want a young man who wants to do a lot of laps and we can make the most of the testing that the concessions allow us,” Maio Meregalli, Yamaha’s sporting director, told Motorsport.com at Silverstone.

«That does not mean that we will not have Crutchlow, who will continue to be part of the team and will return to action when he recovers.”

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Factory Racing

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Yamaha’s first option is believed to be the young Remy Garnder, who competes with the Iwata-based brand in the World Superbike Championship and replaced Crutchlow as its wildcard entrant in the British GP.

He ended up substituting for full-timer Alex Rins after the Spaniard withdrew from the weekend due to lingering injuries from his crash in the Dutch GP at the end of June.

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The problem is that the Australian is not much in favour of becoming a full-time test rider, although Yamaha has not completely ruled out undergoing further negotiations with him in order to convince him for that role.

While a final decision is awaited on Gardner, the Japanese marque has revealed that it is also holding conversations with 2022 Moto2 champion Fernandez, who is currently in the second season with the GasGas-branded Tech3 team in MotoGP.

Having not been retained by the wider KTM group, the Spaniard does not have a place on the 2025 grid, and his options in WSBK are also limited.

Yamaha is understood to have offered him the chance to remain in the MotoGP paddock next year as a test rider — an opportunity that could include five-to-six wildcard outings depending upon Crutchlow’s recovery.

Fernandez, 26, himself admitted that he was holding dialogue with Yamaha about a testing role for 2025.

«We are talking to them. If nothing appears in this paddock or in SBK, which is difficult, it is a good exit for me,” he told Motorsport.com. “I’m always thinking about an opportunity to grow as a rider to return to a full-time team in the future.”



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Fernandez grateful for KTM MotoGP support despite “not showing anything”


 The 2022 Moto2 world champion scored a best result of fourth in an otherwise difficult rookie campaign last year, though earned a MotoGP stay with Tech3 over Pol Espargaro as KTM figured out how to solve its three-riders-for-two-bikes problem.

Though on a factory-supported KTM with the new carbon fibre chassis, Fernandez has struggled to get to grips with the 2024 RC16, which he feels is too soft compared to the frame he used in 2023.

Out of the points in 17th in the Qatar GP, Fernandez managed 11th in Portugal – but was 23 seconds adrift of rookie team-mate Pedro Acosta in third.

Despite the difficult season so far, Fernandez says he still has the support from KTM, while also noting that Acosta is “a very good reference” for him to be able to learn from.

“The truth is that the factory is pushing for the four of us; even for me, even though I’m not showing anything,” he said.

“Despite that I’m getting all the support from them.

“So, I have to thank them for the treatment in these moments when it is costing me. Let’s see if I can pay them back with results soon.”

He added: “Pedro’s podium is brutal. Everything he is doing, in general. On a new circuit, where he has never trained with MotoGP.

“We have a very good reference at KTM. We have him at home, so let’s see if we can copy him and get close to him.”

Fernandez’s 11th in the Portuguese Grand Prix came as he made “a huge step forward” in finding a set-up that worked better for him and feels he won’t have to do anything radical to the RC16 again this weekend in Austin.

“We made a huge step forward,” he said. «In Portugal I was able to handle the lack of grip conditions a bit better.

“We have to keep growing. The pace is not yet what we want, but we have to go little by little.

«We are changing the bike a lot during the weekends. But it’s nothing I don’t ask for. From now on, surely, I will ask to be more or less stable in that sense, to be able to firm up a base.

“Surely, we won’t have to invent anything for Austin.”

If things don’t improve for Fernandez, however, he did not rule out the possibility of reverting to the 2023 chassis he raced last year after the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of the month.

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