Yamaha has thrown significant resources at its MotoGP project in an attempt to get back to winning ways, with everything from poaching away the top technical staff of other manufacturers to expanding its number of bikes next year.
It seems that the next part of the project set for a revamp in the coming months is its test team, with multiple rumours circulating through the Silverstone paddock at last weekend’s British Grand Prix suggesting that reinforcements are coming alongside current test rider Cal Crutchlow.
MotoGP race winner Crutchlow was snapped up by Yamaha following his retirement from full-time competition at the end of the 2020 season, taking over from a shortlived stint by multiple world champion Jorge Lorenzo that lasted only a few months during the COVID pandemic.
Since then, Crutchlow has largely led Yamaha’s development team single-handedly, at least until complications from hand surgery earlier this year largely sidelined him.
So far he's missed out on two scheduled wildcard race appearances, at Mugello and last weekend at his home race in the UK, and it’s not yet clear when the 38-year-old will return to action.
So far, that doesn’t seem to have had a significant impact on Yamaha’s testing programme, thanks in large part to its new-for-2024 concession status that means it been able to test with its normal race riders, even if poor weather has on occasion meant Fabio Quartararo and team-mate Alex Rins spent less time than anticipated working on upgrades.
But, with plenty of R&D in the pipeline for 2025 and with Pramac switching to its bikes for next season, Yamaha is now moving to secure additional test riders alongside Crutchlow, who is believed to be under contract until the end of 2026. That last year in 2026 will be crucial, with MotoGP introducing new 850cc machines for 2027.
Both of the names linked to the testing team were in MotoGP action last weekend at Silverstone - with Yamaha's targets for the role believed to be a pair of past Moto2 champions in Yamaha World Superbike racer Remy Gardner and current Tech3 GasGas MotoGP rider Augusto Fernandez.
Fernandez is 17th in the MotoGP standings - the same position he ended his rookie year in last season - but faces a difficult fight for a new race seat owing to Tech3 signing British Grand Prix winner Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales as an all-new line-up for 2025.
Fernandez admitted exclusively to The Race that the idea of becoming a test rider for Yamaha is an interesting one, even if he’s still got to fully consider his options with racing in Superbikes also being a possible avenue of opportunity for him.
“Both options are real,” he told The Race.
“Both are on the table, and we need to keep negotiating. We have to consider [being] a tester, because I would like to be back racing at some point, and in superbike there are a few good options."
Asked where his current preference lay, Fernandez replied: "We need to go a little bit forward with the contracts".
Gardner, who completed a full MotoGP season in 2021 at the Tech3 team before moving to WSBK, has in Crutchlow’s absence made a MotoGP return, first replacing the injured Rins at last month’s German Grand Prix before returning to action in Britain initially as Crutchlow’s wildcard replacement before a fresh Rins injury meant he moved to his seat.
He hasn’t disappointed in either appearance, scoring solid race finishes despite an obvious lack of recent MotoGP experience and the challenges of jumping back and forth from Michelin to Pirelli tyres in between his two series.
However, just starting to find his form in World Superbikes after a slow transition and now a regular podium threat, the Australian says he isn’t ready to settle for a test rider role, believing he’s still got more world championships in him.
“I don’t think both things are going to be possible,” Gardner explained of the prospect of both racing superbikes and testing in MotoGP.
“They’d kind of be shooting themselves in the foot, because it’s a completely different kind of bike.
“With time I could probably do just as well, but going from one weekend to another isn’t the best. I’d rather focus on one single championship, because at Donington it took laps to remember how to ride the superbike again and I struggled there.
“I’m a 26-year-old young boy with a fire in my belly. I had my first podium in nearly two years a few months ago, and I want more. I got fourth in Most and I was gut wrenched.
"I’m hungry for it. I love podiums, I like racing, I like fighting, and I think I can fight for a championship in the future like I once did. I’m a racer.”
So Fernandez might be the most likely option currently as Gardner appears happy to remain where he is on the GRT satellite Yamaha in WSBK, for now at least.
