After their team launch on Friday night, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rolled out on track at the Shakedown on Saturday – and they immediately made an impact. Yamaha, thanks to their concessions, are able to field all their race riders. As the factory welcomes two more bikes to the grid this year, that means Prima Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira can join Alex Rins and Fabio Quartararo on track. So they did.
Aleix Espargaro made his Shakedown debut as well, joining fellow Honda HRC development rider Takaaki Nakagami on track. Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaro were back out for KTM too, as were Michele Pirro for Ducati and Lorenzo Savadori for Aprilia.
In terms of novelties, two bigger things caught the eye: updated tail units spotted at KTM and Honda.
In terms of times at the top, Rins was fastest with a 1:58.745, with Red Bull KTM test rider Pol Espargaro in hot pursuit just 0.003 off. Quartararo was third, 0.064 behind Pol Espargaro. Impressively, two of the three 2025 rookies made it into the 1:58 club too.
2024 Moto2™ champion Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and fellow debutant Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Racing MotoGP) impressed on Day 1, and Day 2 maybe even more so. The Japanese rider did a 1:58 on his Aprilia and the Spaniard was only 0.016 behind on his Ducati. The two were the final members of the 1:58 club on Saturday.
Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU LCR Honda) started his 2025 on Day 2, having not headed out on Friday. He was further towards the back of the field but for his first time on the track on a MotoGP bike, that’s to be expected as he looks to get up to speed!
Join us for more on Sunday as the final day of Shakedown action gets underway.
