Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernández has an important task at Silverstone

The summer break is over, and this weekend the MotoGP World Championship kicks off the second half of the 2026 season at Silverstone. The riders had just under four weeks to rest, take a holiday and train.

The manufacturers and teams, on the other hand, had their hands full during the break, preparing for the final eleven race weekends of this year and also for 2027. The engineers used the break to press ahead with development work on the motorbikes. In particular, the manufacturers struggling to compete in the premier class are doing everything they can to close the gap on the top brands such as Ducati and Aprilia.

Yamaha currently has the most ground to make up. The Japanese manufacturer not only needs to improve its current 1,000cc bike, but also has to put an enormous amount of development work into the 850cc bike for 2027.

Yamaha’s test riders, led by Augusto Fernandez, are therefore kept very busy. To assess the work carried out over the past few weeks, the Spaniard will be competing at the Silverstone race weekend on a wildcard.

“The goals for this weekend are clear: I want to be as fast as possible to gather as much useful information as possible,” is Fernandez’s brief and unequivocal statement.

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This means there will be five Yamahas on the starting grid at the Silverstone Circuit. The regular riders – Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins, Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu – will take their places on the V4-M1, well rested. It remains to be seen how successful the British Grand Prix will be for them – or whether they’ll be keen to head straight back on holiday afterwards.