After spending six-years riding European V4-powered MotoGP machines at KTM and Aprilia, Miguel Oliveira made his Pramac Yamaha debut at Tuesday’s Barcelona test.
No sooner had Pramac won the world title in their final race with Jorge Martin and Ducati, than the team began morphing into their new Yamaha era with Oliveira and Jack Miller.
The Portuguese, who took a best finish of third (in the Sachsenring Sprint) for Trackhouse this season, completed 60 laps of the Catalunya circuit on the factory-spec M1.
“It was very, very different from what I was used to for sure,” Oliveira said.
“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 import.”
But the five time MotoGP winner emphasised that the fastest bike is not normally the most comfortable.
“We're not looking for really 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,” he said.
Oliveira’s best time put him 17th on the testing timesheets, 1.335s from leader Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and 0.939s from the fastest M1 of factory Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo.
“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 forwards during the Winter tests for sure.”
Asked to pinpoint one area where he would like to improve, Oliveira replied: “Braking. That's it,” adding that he meant stability of the bike under deceleration.
Yamaha has a new V4 engine on the horizon, but the 29-year-old avoided any in-depth comparisons between the V4s he has raced so far in his MotoGP career and the current M1 Inline4.
“It has positives and it has some things that need to be improved,” Oliveira said of the present engine.
Miller, barred from speaking to the media due to his KTM contract, was 22nd fastest, 2.2s from Alex Marquez.
