Alpine is set to become one of the main sponsors of Pramac when it becomes Yamaha’s satellite MotoGP team in 2025.

Pramac has already announced it has signed a new contract which sees Italian insurance company Prima remain as its title sponsor until the end of 2027, and it appears to be adding to its list of partners.

As reported by Motorsport.com, Alpine will be sponsoring the Pramac team, with the Renault group’s sports car brand set to share prominence with Prima on the new machine. 

Pramac owner Paolo Campinoti has already collaborated with Formula One in the past, with the team showing the F1 logo on its bikes in the 2021 season following an initiative by Campinoti and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. 

Campinoti was also present at last weekend’s Formula One Qatar Grand Prix as the team looks to complete the deal with Alpine. 

Luca de Meo, the CEO of Alpine, has a strong relationship with Campinoti, which has seemingly facilitated the deal between the two.

De Meo was previously the director of the FIAT group when the company sponsored Yamaha between 2007 and 2010 as he looks to renew his relationship with the Japanese manufacturer, as well as MotoGP as a whole. 

The current rumours state that Pramac and Alpine are negotiating a long-term sponsorship deal as Pramac navigates its switch in manufacturer from Ducati to Yamaha. 

The official livery of the Pramac team is set to be unveiled ahead of the pre-season test at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia on the 5-7 February 2025.

Series organisers Dorna have scheduled an official photo session two days before the test begins and it is anticipated that each team will showcase its liveries on this occasion.

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Pramac Yamaha have officially announced its partnership will extend into the Moto2 class starting from the 2025 season.

As part of the new cooperation between Pramac and Yamaha, the new outfit will replace the Yamaha Mastercamp team. 

Alongside the announcement of the team, Pramac also revealed that Tony Arbolino and Izan Guevara will be the team’s riders for 2025. 

Pramac is also set to use Boscoscuro chassis for its Moto2 debut, something which helped Ai Ogura win the world championship this season.

The team is set to make its official on track debut in the Moto2 preseason test in February 2025, which is scheduled to take place in Valencia. 

“We are thrilled that Yamaha’s collaboration with Pramac will extend to the Moto2 class straight away in 2025,” said Yamaha Racing managing director Lin Jarvis in a press release.

“The creation of the Pramac Yamaha Moto2 Team reflects Yamaha’s dedication to nurturing young talents and guiding them through the racing ranks as well as the company’s dedication to be back at the top of MotoGP.

“With Tony Arbolino and Izan Guevara, we have an outstanding rider line-up for the new Moto2 team, combining skills, talent, and potential. “We look forward to seeing their journey unfold as we continue building a stronger foundation for Yamaha’s future in MotoGP.”

‘An honour to join Pramac and Yamaha’: rider’s react to Moto2 signing

The Pramac Yamaha collaboration promises a strong debut with its rider lineup, as 2023 Moto2 runner up Arbolino partners the former Moto3 world champion Guevara. 

“It‘s an honour to join Pramac and Yamaha in their new Moto2 project,” said former MarcVDS rider Arbolino. 

“I always loved Yamaha as per what they represent as a brand and history.

“Besides, I have full trust in Pramac to help me become a better rider. I will do my best to deliver the best possible results.  

“The title in Moto2 is our goal. Thanks to them for their trust in me.”

“I’m very happy about this new chapter I‘m about to start, said Guevara, “I’m going to a team that is a family and they are the reigning MotoGP World Champions.

“I’m looking forward to working again with one of the people who helped me become World Champion, Gino Borsoi.

“I know many of the people who will work in the team and I know it will be easy to work together.

“Above all I want to thank Pramac and Yamaha for giving me this opportunity to race with them in 2025. 

“I’m sure we are going to achieve a lot of success as I am very motivated by this change and by the project I will be involved in.”

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Jorge Martin earned a commanding MotoGP Sprint victory in Malaysia to put one hand on the world title, as rival Francesco Bagnaia crashed out.

Martin’s pressure out front saw the double reigning world champion crash out of the Sprint in Sepang, which allowed the Pramac rider to extend his championship lead to 29 points. 

Martin’s Sprint victory means he can win the championship on Sunday’s main race should he outscore Bagnaia by nine points. 

Light rain started falling ahead of the race start, further increasing the tension before the Sprint had even begun. 

Martin got the jump off the line and was able to fend off polesitter Bagnaia into the first corner to take the lead of the Sprint.

Bagnaia had an out of the seat moment going into Turn 9 which allowed Marquez to close in on second place. 

Marquez looked the fastest of the leading trio, however the GP24 had the pace to pull away from the Gresini on the straight.

Bagnaia continued to push on in an attempt to break away from Marquez, setting the fastest lap going onto the third tour of the circuit. 

The Ducati rider pushed on, and a costly mistake from Bagnaia at Turn 9 saw him slide and crash out of the race, an incident that potentially sealed the fate of this year’s world championship. 

Pramac notified Martin that his nearest challenger had fallen out of contention, and the Spaniard dropped the hammer and pulled clear of Marquez in second. 

The closest battle on track was between the KTMs, with Jack Miller and Pedro Acosta resuming their battle for the final points positions in eighth and ninth. 

Acosta pursued Miller despite his GasGas machine smoking when hitting the curbs, but the rookie was still unable to pass the Australian for eighth. 

Martin continued to control the race and cruised to the line to take the victory and earn a championship point going into the main race on Sunday.

Marquez took the flag in second place, 0.913s behind Martin, after being unable to get on terms with his compatriot. 

Enea Bastianini rounded out the podium to provide some relief to the downbeat factory Ducati team.

Gresini’s Alex Marquez was fourth, finishing four seconds behind the podium finishers, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo took a welcome fifth. 

Franco Morbidelli was sixth ahead of a trio of KTMs led by Brad Binder in seventh, as Jack Miller was able to hold off Acosta for eighth place.

Marco Bezzecchi completed the top ten as Alex Rins trailed behind in 11th. 

Aleix Espargaro was 12th for Aprilia, ahead of Augusto Fernandez in 13th and teammate Maverick Vinales in 14th. 

Luca Marini led the Repsol Honda pair over the line in 15th, as team-mate Joan Mir took 16th. 

Takaaki Nakagami was 17th as he finished ahead of the Trackhouse of Raul Fernandez in 18th.

Andrea Iannone’s Grand Prix return saw him claim 19th in his first MotoGP sprint, while Lorenzo Savadori closed out the finishers in the 20th.

Johann Zarco retired from the race with a technical problem with three laps to go, while Bagnaia crashed out of second and did not finish the Sprint.

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MotoGP World Champion leader Jorge Martin admits it was his idea to pit and swap bikes during the short rain period at the San Marino Grand Prix.

The consequence of Martin’s pit stop was losing 19 points of his championship lead to Francesco Bagnaia as the rain eased off in the laps following his move to Wet tyres.

Martin decided to re-enter the pits and switch back to slick tyres, but by that point, the damage was done, and his big gamble didn’t pay off as he came home in 15th.

“I was thinking more about the race than the championship, so I thought it was better to stop,” Martin explained after the race, having been running second at the time and had already banked 12 points after winning the sprint on Saturday.

“Next time I will wait behind Pecco and do the same.

“For sure it was wet. I think [Franco] Morbidelli crashed. If it kept [raining] the same then I would have won! But from one lap to another it stopped. As soon as I exited from the box I waited but then understood that the best option was to go back.”

Martin revealed that he and Pramac hadn’t formulated a plan pre-race if the rain came down, though every team had a second bike if riders felt it was the right time to swap.

“We didn’t speak about it, and I didn’t know what was coming,” he said. “Maybe that’s why I stopped. Maybe this time we missed a bit of understanding between us.

“I mean, it was 100% my fault. But yeah, it’s always useful to get feedback and have more information before the race.”

“Corner three to 11 was raining a lot, that is why I took my decision. Next time, I will follow my rival.”

Martin now has a seven-point advantage over Bagnaia heading into the second Misano race, with Marc Marquez 53 points behind and Enea Bastianini 62 points adrift.

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Pramac has announced that Miguel Oliveira will switch to the team on a multi-term contract to coincide with its impending MotoGP partnership with Yamaha in 2025.

The Portuguese rider had been linked with Pramac since it was revealed he would leave Trackhouse Aprilia, and he has penned a two-year deal with the Italian squad.

Pramac is preparing to switch manufacturers from Ducati to Yamaha next season, with the incumbent Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli both set to depart the side.

“It’s a great privilege for me to represent such an iconic brand in our sport as Yamaha,” Oliveira said.

“Through my years of progression and arriving in MotoGP, I’ve always looked upon the blue bikes with great enthusiasm.

“It’s now a reality, and I want to thank Yamaha Motor Company for its commitment to me in such an important transition phase of the project.

“Mr. Lin Jarvis was a key figure in starting discussions and making this happen. I believe I can be useful in this transition period of bringing the bike back to the top.

“I want to thank Mr. Campinoti, Gino Borsoi, and all the Pramac staff for embarking on this journey together. I can’t be happier and more excited to get this new chapter started.”

“We are pleased to announce that a professional and experienced rider like Miguel Oliveira is joining the Yamaha line-up for 2025-26, and we bid him a warm welcome to the Yamaha MotoGP Project,” said Yamaha Managing Director Lin Jarvis.

“Miguel is a rider who has the technical know-how, experience, speed, and precision needed to improve the performance of the Yamaha YZR-M1.

“We are really looking forward to working with him as a key member of the Yamaha MotoGP project, and he can count on our full support.”

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LCR Honda rider Johann Zarco believes Yamaha’s expansion to four bikes for 2025 will motivate Honda further to get back to the front of the grid.

The Frenchman indicates that Pramac choosing Yamaha from 2025 will motivate both Japanese marques on its quest to bridge the gap to the front in overall bike competitiveness.

It’s safe to say Honda has had a difficult first half of the year. All four riders collectively acquired a lacklustre 36 points.

Both manufacturers have seen their performance levels significantly drop in the last year, and they have struggled to fight back despite the new concession system allowing as much testing as possible in between races.

Pramac announced the end of its 20-year agreement with Ducati at the Dutch Grand Prix, with former rider Zarco voicing his opinion on the matter.

““It will be good for the Yamaha project. They need more bikes to develop and get more information,” he said.

“It’s good to get more Japanese bikes in the championship because now the European bikes, the Ducati, [they] get too much advantage so it finds a little bit better balance. And I hope that the Japanese will reduce the gap with the Ducati.

“[With] Marc and Pecco for next year in the top team, they will be impossible to reach and they will fly all year. 

“But at least from third position to the 10th position, there will be some changes and that will be good. 

“And I think Yamaha doing improvements and getting more bikes on the grid will push Honda also to make the changes or push themselves to find solutions.”

Zarco states that Honda needs to develop a brand-new bike to stand any chance of competing at the front again.

“[We are] still too far. The bike is still not competitive enough to make a step in the top 10,” the 33-year-old said. 

“I look forward to a new bike that will give this performance. I try at the moment to improve myself and this [Sachsenring] weekend I could try to use the strong points of the bike because there are some areas where the bike is not too bad and I tried to use it to the maximum.

“I don’t know [when the new bike will arrive]. But I wait. I don’t want to know [when it will it arrive] because it will not change my concentration for all the races. But at least I would like to [do] as well as possible over what I have control.” 

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Jorge Martin has admitted that his chances of winning either race across the Dutch Grand Prix MotoGP weekend were “impossible” as Francesco Bagnaia dominated.

The current championship leader struggled across the opening two practices as he couldn’t get to grips with his GP24 Ducati around a tight and twisting Assen track.

Martin was able to improve as the weekend progressed to end up less than one-tenth behind Bagnaia’s pole position benchmark, but his title rival led all the race laps.

The Sunday race saw the Spaniard be awarded a three-place grid drop due to impeding a rider in qualifying, meaning he started back in the middle of the second row.

Despite making an excellent start to recover enough ground to be second in the opening corners, Martin’s showing comprised trailing Bagnaia’s Ducati bike in second.

“No, I don’t think so,” Martin said when asked if the penalty hurt his victory hopes.

“I don’t think today I had any chance, or this weekend, to be first.

“Maybe in qualifying, I was close. Maybe I could improve a little bit that lap time, but in the race it was impossible.

“Pecco was on another level. Maybe something would be different [without the penalty], maybe I would have tried a move at the beginning, I don’t know.

“But I got the penalty, so there’s no sense speaking about that.”

Martin reflected more on his weekend, stating: “Was a difficult weekend, at least on Friday and Saturday morning.

“We were able to turn it around with yesterday’s podium. The feeling wasn’t fantastic, but today I have no excuse.

“I have to congratulate Pecco, because he was riding on another level.

“I felt perfect, I felt I was riding really good, I saw the lap times and it was amazing how fast we were going. And still, he was pulling away with some tenths every lap.”

As a result, Martin’s championship lead over Bagnaia has now been whittled further to 10 points heading into Sachsenring before the annual summer break arrives.

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Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin has claimed that MotoGP’s tere pressure rule was the leading reason behind there being limited overtaking in the Italian Grand Prix.

Francesco Bagnaia led proceedings following a Turn 2 overtake on Martin on the opening lap and the reigning MotoGP champion controlled the encounter to the end.

Martin had remained with a second of Bagnaia ahead across the race, but he could not craft a move on his title rival and Enea Bastianini passed him at the final turn.

“I was really thinking about [passing Bagnaia for the lead],” said Martin.

“But we are so on the limit with the front temperatures during the season, these last years, with the pressure limit.

“When you are three-tenths or closer it’s impossible to get even closer. The rider in front [needs to] make a mistake or it’s impossible to make the move.

“It’s a pity that we don’t have more show because I think without that rule I would have the chance to overtake.

“But second position was my place today, but with this mistake, it was third.”

Bastianini’s charge in the last three laps saw him overtake Gresini’s Marc Marquez and Martin, with the latter a late lunge up the inside into the final corner for second.

Martin admitted the move was his error, which in turn cost him four points to contender Bagnaia and has prompted his championship lead to be reduced to 18 points.

“It was a big frustration after the finish line because to lose a position on the last corner hurt me quite a lot,” he said.

“It was more my mistake. I saw on the pitboard eight tenths of a second so I was relaxed.

“I was pushing but not on the limit. I didn’t want to crash because I knew Pecco was already far away.

“I thought nobody was there and then I hear his bike and I said no way this is happening to me. Trust me this mistake won’t happen to me again.”

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Aprilia has announced that it has signed Jorge Martin for the 2025 MotoGP season amid reports that Marc Marquez has secured the coveted factory Ducati position.

Martin has been intent on riding with a works team next season and Italian reports published last weekend that Ducati had chosen him to partner Francesco Bagnaia.

However, Marc Marquez disclosed at Mugello that the Pramac ride Martin will vacate was not an option, prompting Ducati to enact an apparent reversal on its choice.

Marquez has excelled since leaving Honda on a year-old Gresini Ducati bike in 2024 and the Italian marque is thought to have been against losing his prized services.

Aprilia proceeded to accelerate talks with Martin to pounce on Ducati retracting its proposal to acquire the current MotoGP championship leader on a multi-term deal.

“A path of unstoppable growth, Jorge is a building block to reach the goal we are all looking for with great hunger at Aprilia Racing,” Massimo Rivola, Aprilia Racing CEO said.

“Thanks to Dr. Michele Colaninno for this opportunity, we spoke last night and without wasting any time we made the decision.”

Martin will replace Aleix Espargaro, who will retire from MotoGP at the end of the current campaign and has been touted to take up a testing role with Honda from 2025.

The Spaniard finished as championship runner-up to Bagnaia last season and leads the standings in 2024 with two victories and two Sprint wins in the first six rounds.

Martin’s decision to pen a deal with Aprilia has all but certified Marquez will be confirmed as a Ducati rider soon, with Enea Bastianini needing to find a seat elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Maverick Vinales rubbished reports that he had penned a renewal with Aprilia, citing that Rivola’s comments to the Spanish media had been mistranslated.

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Gresini Racing looks set to remain a Ducati customer in MotoGP for the foreseeable future as Pramac continue talks with adopting Yamaha’s in 2024, according to reports.

Yamaha currently has two bikes on the grid in its sole factory team and it is clear that the Japanese marque looks to expand its presence on the grid to improve development.

Meanwhile, Ducati supplies three satellite entrants in VR46, Gresini and Pramac, with the latter receiving factory machinery.

Despite being contracted with Ducati for 2025, Gresini boss Nadia Padovani had to rule out her team being tempted by factory spec Yamahas amid rumours of an exit clause.

“No, none,” was Padovani’s response when asked by Spanish publication Marca about the possibility of a switch to the Japanese manufacturer.

Pramac meanwhile, will “wait until the last second of the last day of July,” according to Paolo Campinoti (via Sky Italia).

Yamaha has allegedly “put an offer on the table” after “intense negotiations” with Pramac over the last few days.

Should Pramac switch to Yamaha, it would represent a massive change in expectations for the outfit.

Pramac currently enjoys the use of two factory-spec GP24 Desmoseidicis, the class of the 2024 MotoGP field.

Yamaha, meanwhile, like fellow Japanese marque Honda, is struggling to keep pace with the European manufacturers.

If Pramac can be tempted away from Ducati, they would essentially be signing up for the Yamaha rebuild and sacrificing any success in the immediate future.

However, they would be well placed to benefit in 2027, should Yamaha adapt to the new technical regulations with aplomb.

Another implication of a Pramac switch to Yamaha is within the rider market.

At the present moment, Moto2 hotshot Fermin Aldeguer is promised a Pramac Ducati ride, but if the team were to switch to Yamaha, the young sensation would need to be placed within another Ducati customer entrant.

It would also limit options for the remaining out-of-contract riders, as two fewer Ducatis on the grid means less chance of riding a race-winning capable bike in 2025.

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