A setback for Yamaha: Remy Gardner can’t race, Jack Miller isn’t allowed to

Yamaha has scheduled eight days of testing during the winter of 2026–2027: 25–26 November in Jerez, 9–10 December in Valencia, 20–21 January in Jerez and 25–26 January in Valencia. The equipment will then be shipped Down Under, where testing will take place on 15–16 February at Phillip Island, a two-hour drive from Melbourne, and the 2027 World Championship will also get underway the following weekend.

One thing is already clear: the first Yamaha test at the end of November will take place without two of the Blue team’s key riders. Jack Miller’s MotoGP season does not finish until 29 November, so the 31-year-old is not permitted to test with the Superbike before then. And Remy Gardner will not be fit in time for the first test following his operation on 9 November.

Remy Gardner wurde das Metall aus dem rechten Arm entfernt

Foto: gardner

Flashback: A week after the end of the 2025 season, Gardner crashed whilst training on a minibike, dislocating the same shoulder again – just as he had done a few days earlier at the SBK finale in Jerez. As it could no longer be put back in place, the 2021 Moto2 World Champion had to undergo surgery; he had also broken his upper arm in the mishap. The intramedullary nail and the three screws have now been removed. “He’ll be out of action for a few weeks, but will be back on his R1 for the test in Valencia in December,” Yamaha announced.

So things won’t really get underway until 9 December: Gardner and Miller will be there, and we’ll also see Brad Binder (BMW) and Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) on the Superbike for the first time.

Those in charge at Yamaha are hoping that the ageing R1 will be more competitive in 2027 with the revised technical regulations. Andrea Locatelli finished the 2026 World Championship in 12th place as the highest-placed rider from the factory quartet; in 36 races, neither ‘Loka’ nor Gardner, Xavier Vierge nor Stefano Manzi managed to make it onto the podium. In the Constructors’ Championship, they finished fourth out of six manufacturers, though they are just one point behind third-placed BMW. Yamaha’s last victory came in April 2025 at Assen, when Locatelli took the win after Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) retired whilst leading.