Fabio Quartararo gave Yamaha plenty of warnings about a lack of development ahead of their MotoGP world championship defence which went unheeded given its Qatar GP performance. It appears the Japanese manufacturer has fallen into a familiar trap which has also caught two of its major rivals in recent years.

The stagnation in the development of this year’s Yamaha bike, the chief cause of the brand’s worst start to a MotoGP season in 16 years, follows the pattern that recently also conditioned Japanese rivals Honda and Suzuki – MotoGP champions prior to 2021.

In the 2022 season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo crossed the finish line in ninth, 10.5 seconds behind winner Enea Bastianini as the Italian took a maiden victory aboard a Gresini-run year-old Ducati.