Fabio Quartararo and the ‘Bizarre’ Shakes in Aragon: Can Yamaha Solve This Mystery?

The 2021 MotoGP world champion, Fabio Quartararo, suffered a frustrating and confounding weekend at the MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix, crashing out of the main race while battling rear-end chatter that made his Yamaha M1 “unrideable.” Despite showing signs of a comeback in recent rounds, Quartararo’s struggles returned in full force at MotorLand Aragon, highlighting the deep and ongoing issues plaguing Yamaha’s 2025 MotoGP campaign.

Quartararo, who had started the year with renewed optimism, saw his progress halted when he crashed out of 10th place on Lap 13 of the 23-lap race. According to the Frenchman, he was fighting with “really, really bad” chatter on the rear of his Yamaha that made it impossible to push safely.

Chatter and Confusion: The Strangest Yamaha Problem Yet

Chatter, a vibration that unsettles the bike and rider, is one of the most notorious and unpredictable problems in MotoGP. For Quartararo, the reappearance of rear chatter—especially on the medium rear tyre, which should theoretically offer more stability—was as alarming as it was frustrating.

“Same as yesterday. Chatter on the rear. Locking on the front, no grip,” Quartararo revealed after the race.
“The grip was improving lap by lap, but just the chatter was really, really bad and I could not ride. And pushing a little bit more we just lost the front.”

The fact that the problem did not show up in short runs but worsened over time is troubling, and Yamaha has no clear explanation as to why it occurred two days in a row—especially with tyre compounds that were expected to be stable.

“It’s quite strange,” Quartararo added. “If we do short runs of four laps, it’s quite ok. But after five, six laps, the bike started to have a lot of chatter, step by step more and more.”

Yamaha had assumed the medium rear compound would solve issues they faced with the soft tyre during sprints, but instead it introduced an even more perplexing situation. Now, the factory has to scramble to understand a behavior that doesn’t fit its data or experience.

From Podium Contender to Head-Scratching Crasher

The Aragon GP marked a sharp turn in form for Fabio Quartararo, who had been on pole position and in podium contention at two of the previous three rounds. Hopes were high that Yamaha had begun to stabilize its M1 package for 2025. But Aragon brought a painful dose of reality.

In Saturday’s sprint, Quartararo dropped out of the points altogether, finishing outside the top 10 due to early onset of chatter. Sunday’s main race started similarly, and his crash came as he was attempting to salvage points from a disappointing weekend.

It was a cruel reminder of how vulnerable the current Yamaha M1 is to track-specific weaknesses. What was once a championship-winning machine is now at risk of being relegated to midfield mediocrity on certain layouts.

Aragon: A Litmus Test That Yamaha Failed

Far from just another race, Aragon was a track where Quartararo expected to gauge the true competitiveness of Yamaha’s latest evolution. Instead, the factory team left MotorLand with more questions than answers.

“This one for me was a little bit of a point where we could really see our potential and see where we are,” Quartararo said.
“Some tracks we are better, some tracks we are worse, but this one was one of the tracks where it was really important to see our potential—and it was really bad.”

Aragon’s layout, with its blend of long straights and flowing corners, was expected to stress-test Yamaha’s top speed improvements and rear grip upgrades. The results were a catastrophe, proving that Yamaha’s work over the winter has not yet bridged the gap to the front-runners.

Despite a promising start to 2025, Quartararo now admits the bike’s development still has “a long way to go.”

A Glimmer of Hope for Mugello and Assen?

Though devastated by the performance in Spain, Fabio Quartararo isn’t giving up yet. He’s already looking ahead to tracks like Mugello and Assen, where he believes Yamaha’s strengths may be more effective.

“I think Mugello and Assen are tracks where we can be much faster.”

Historically, Yamaha has performed better on fast, flowing circuits that reward corner speed over outright horsepower—an area where Quartararo still shines when the bike is underneath him. However, expectations will be tempered after Aragon’s disaster, where even top-10 pace proved elusive.

For now, the goal at Mugello and Assen won’t be winning—but salvaging dignity and data.

Post-Crash Fallout: Alex Rins Best of Yamaha in 11th

After Quartararo’s crash on Lap 13, the best-performing Yamaha at the chequered flag was Alex Rins, who finished 11th. While that might sound like a respectable salvage job, it underlines the grim reality: Yamaha is currently not a competitive factory on circuits that challenge rear traction and acceleration.

The fact that neither rider could crack the top 10 is a harsh indictment of Yamaha’s current development direction, which still seems to be searching for consistency.

Yamaha’s Chatter Dilemma: What’s Really Going Wrong?

Rear chatter has haunted many manufacturers over the years, but for Yamaha, the issue has become systemic in recent seasons. The problem is likely multi-faceted, involving frame stiffness, suspension harmonics, and tyre construction compatibility. But more worryingly, the chatter has no clear pattern—it appears unexpectedly and doesn’t always correlate with tyre choice or track conditions.

In Quartararo’s words, “It’s coming from something else we don’t really know why.”

This makes it nearly impossible to solve, especially within a race weekend, when limited practice time means riders must gamble on setups for the race. Until Yamaha understands the root cause, the chatter could strike again—derailing future weekends just as easily.

Quartararo’s Patience Wearing Thin?

As Yamaha’s lead rider and only realistic hope for podiums in 2025, Fabio Quartararo’s patience is being tested. The Frenchman has remained loyal and optimistic through difficult years, even choosing to extend his contract through 2026 in hopes of a Yamaha resurgence.

But moments like Aragon—where he felt helpless and unable to compete—may erode his confidence in the project.

Crucially, Quartararo hasn’t yet turned on the team in public, but there is a growing sense that unless Yamaha finds real performance solutions, tension could boil over in the second half of the season.

Conclusion: Yamaha’s Crisis Deepens as Quartararo Crashes Out

The 2025 MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix will go down as one of the low points of Fabio Quartararo’s recent career. After building momentum in the previous rounds, the Yamaha ace was knocked back by a baffling and unrideable issue that robbed him of any chance to compete.

With rear chatter once again at the center of Yamaha’s struggles and no immediate solution in sight, the road ahead is steep. Quartararo has already turned the page to Mugello and Assen, hoping for better fortune. But unless Yamaha delivers meaningful fixes, his talent alone won’t be enough.

The time for excuses has passed. Yamaha must now decide if it’s still a championship-caliber factory, or if the era of M1 dominance is officially over.