Miguel Oliveira says that his Pramac Yamaha is “very different” to the bikes he has ridden in his MotoGP career following the Barcelona test.
Following an injury-plagued 2024 season at Trackhouse, Oliveira moved to the Pramac team to become a satellite Yamaha rider and will use an Inline4 machine for the first time in his career.
The Portuguese rider said that the Yamaha bike gives “good feedback” but was unlike anything he had ridden before.
“It was very, very different from what I was used to for sure,” Oliveira said via Crash.net.
“Especially in the braking phase it’s super different, but I have to say it was also a bike that is straight away very rider friendly.
“The bike gives you good feedback to tell you where the wheels are, and that’s super important.
“We’re not really looking for comfort or having a bike that is friendly to the rider, but a bike that is fast and I think we’re going to get an opportunity to work on that for sure.”
Miguel Oliveira: Pramac and Yamaha to take ‘more steps forward’
Oliveira admitted that he didn’t test many parts for Yamaha on his test debut, but instead the focus was on setup and having “a smooth transition” into the Pramac team.
“It was just a good setup day I would say,” Oliveira continued.
“We had many Yamaha engineers in the garage to help the team make a smooth transition into the new bike, new software and everything else.
“I also clicked very well with my new crew chief and data guy.
“We’re going to make more steps forward during the Winter tests for sure.
Oliveira also confirmed that the one area he would like Yamaha to improve on before the test in Sepang is “braking”.
He later added that he hoped there would be work on the stability of the bike under deceleration.
When asked about the difference between the Yamaha Inline4 and the V4s he had ridden before, Oliveira admitted that there are both positives and negatives to the new engine.
“It has positives and it has some things that need to be improved,” said Oliveira.
