MotoGP: from triumphs with Ducati to the back of the grid with Yamaha—the Pramac team’s new climb

Campinoti’s team has decided to embark on a new project and is paying the price in terms of results, but Borsoi is confident about the future.

When the Prima Pramac Racing team won the riders’ title with Jorge Martin in 2024, it reached its peak. For the first time, a satellite team managed to achieve such a feat in the MotoGP era. It’s true that the Spaniard enjoyed top-tier technical support, since he was racing for a Ducati factory-supported team, but being in an official structure is always a not-insignificant advantage.

That success was the culmination of a journey that Paolo Campinoti’s squad began in 2005, when it joined the d’Antin team and started a partnership with Ducati, which continued independently when Luis d’Antin stepped aside in July 2008. It took many years of hard work, swallowing some bitter pills along the way, but in the end the greatest possible satisfaction arrived.

After a riders’ title (2024), a teams’ title (first satellite squad to do so, in 2023), five awards as best independent team (2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and four riders promoted to the factory lineup (Iannone, Petrucci, Miller, Bagnaia), the collaboration with Ducati came to an end and a new one began with Yamaha. Prima Pramac Racing has become the second Factory Team of the Iwata manufacturer in MotoGP.

The decision to switch inevitably led to a scaling back of results. Campinoti had anticipated that moving from Ducati, the benchmark on the grid, to Yamaha would be a huge challenge. But the Tuscan entrepreneur isn’t afraid of challenges and received important assurances from the Japanese manufacturer, which is working hard to be ready by 2027, the year the new technical regulations will come into force and a new tire supplier (Pirelli) will arrive. The competitive order on track could change, and we might see a more competitive Yamaha again.

The decision to introduce the V4 engine in 2026, thus accepting a year with more testing and development than results, fits precisely into the strategy of preparing for 2027. For the riders, it’s inevitably very frustrating not being able to show their potential with a very raw M1 that lacks apparent strengths. The engine seems to be the major limitation; they’re working on it in Iwata, and the hope is to see updates capable of delivering during the season.

Yamaha sits at the bottom of the constructors’ standings, with the factory Monster Energy Yamaha team second-to-last and Prima Pramac last in the team standings. Thinking back to the particularly positive recent years with Ducati, it can’t be easy for the Tuscan squad to accept the new reality.

Team manager Gino Borsoi, interviewed by Motorsport-Total.com, explained how crucial it is to keep motivation high nonetheless: "It’s something you learn to manage along the way. And you have to know how to manage it, otherwise you get to the race without any goal. The goal right now is to achieve the best possible result, not only for the riders but also for Yamaha. And for the future, we have to motivate the riders, the team, and everyone. They need to have an objective in front of their eyes to keep the atmosphere as positive as possible. It’s not easy."

Borsoi is fully aware of the situation and, as the leader of the Prima Pramac garage, is doing his utmost to spur everyone on: "We are at the bottom of the standings; we have to make up ground. And sometimes it’s not possible because, due to the track or the bike, the desired result doesn’t come. In these cases, the situation becomes increasingly difficult. But everyone knows where we are. Everyone knows we need time. This time is not limited to a year, a season, or two seasons. For a long-term project, we’re talking about at least three or four years."

Time is needed; that was clear from the very start of the Yamaha adventure. And it became even clearer when a from-scratch project began, like the V4 engine, never previously adopted by Yamaha in MotoGP. Everyone would like short-term results, but there are situations where they’re not possible to achieve; it becomes essential to keep your head down, work hard, and be patient, avoiding spoiling the atmosphere inside the garage.

Pramac has gained significant experience with Ducati and is probably the best partner Yamaha could have found for its climb back up. We’ll see if there’s already a breakthrough in 2027 with the new rules and new tires, but Borsoi and his men know it might take longer and are ready for any scenario.

Not to be forgotten is that three of the four riders in Yamaha’s lineup will change. The factory team will welcome Jorge Martin and Ai Ogura, while in the Prima Pramac team Izan Guevara will arrive from Moto2 to join Toprak Razgatlioglu.