Misano Day 1: Oliveira Frustrated After Two Crashes and Strange Bike Behavior

Miguel Oliveira endured a nightmare opening day at the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano, finishing a lowly 22nd after a pair of crashes in the morning session and bizarre electronic problems in the afternoon. The Pramac Yamaha rider described his Friday as “a very tricky day” where nothing seemed to work as intended.

The Portuguese rider has already faced a difficult 2025 MotoGP season, struggling to adapt to Yamaha’s changing technical direction. With the Misano weekend also doubling as a key testing ground for Yamaha’s new V4 prototype, Oliveira was left frustrated that his own M1 continued to present fundamental issues, preventing him from showing his true potential.

Two Costly Crashes in Practice 1

Oliveira’s problems began early. In the opening session on Friday morning, he crashed twice within the same outing, leaving his crew scrambling to rebuild his bike before the second practice. The first fall was relatively straightforward, but the second crash left him confused and irritated.

“I had two crashes in the first session that are hard to explain, especially the second one, because the front tire just gave up,” he admitted.

Oliveira explained that the setup on his Yamaha wasn’t working in his favor. The front end, in particular, felt unstable and unpredictable, which led to a loss of confidence in corner entry. “The way we had set up the bike wasn’t helping either: it was quite a nervous bike, with the front twisting a lot,” he said.

At Misano, where front-end stability is crucial in high-speed direction changes, such issues are particularly costly. Riders need to attack corners with confidence, but Oliveira’s crashes only further eroded his trust in the bike.

Afternoon Session: Electrical Problems and Unpredictable Behavior

If the morning was bad, the afternoon did little to improve Oliveira’s fortunes. Hoping to reset, the Pramac Yamaha team made big setup changes on one of his bikes. Instead of progress, they ran into an even more complicated issue.

“In the afternoon, we tried to make a big step with one bike, but I had an electrical problem and the bike was behaving very strangely—lots of wheelies at times, then none, and the traction control was quite off,” he explained.

Electronics are a critical part of modern MotoGP machinery, and any inconsistency can completely ruin a rider’s rhythm. Oliveira’s Yamaha behaved erratically, sometimes delivering unexpected wheelies, other times overcompensating with traction control.

Hoping to salvage the session, he switched to his second machine, but the same problems from the morning—front-end instability and lack of grip—reappeared. Even on a time attack, Oliveira could not push with confidence.

The result was a disappointing 22nd on the timesheets, a position far removed from the competitive rider he has shown himself to be in the past.

A Season of Struggles

This difficult opening day is reflective of Oliveira’s wider season with Yamaha. After joining Pramac Yamaha for 2025, expectations were high that he could be a competitive force alongside Jack Miller. However, the year has been full of setbacks.

Oliveira has only scored 17 points so far in 2025, the lowest tally among Yamaha’s four contracted riders. By comparison, Fabio Quartararo leads the Yamaha camp with 129 points, Miller has scored 54, and Alex Rins has 45.

Oliveira’s campaign has been blighted by injuries, crashes, and technical inconsistencies. He missed three full weekends earlier this season after a collision with Fermin Aldeguer at the Argentina Sprint left him with a shoulder ligament injury. Since then, he has struggled to regain rhythm, often qualifying poorly and failing to move up significantly in the races.

At Misano, these problems came to the surface again, with Oliveira visibly fighting the bike rather than working with it.

Yamaha’s V4 Focus Leaves Oliveira Behind

Adding to the frustration is the fact that Yamaha’s attention this weekend has largely centered around the new V4 prototype, being tested by Augusto Fernandez. The prototype has drawn plenty of attention in the paddock for its encouraging lap times, with many observers noting that Fernandez was not far off the pace of the full-time Yamaha riders.

Oliveira, meanwhile, was left to battle with the current-spec M1 and its long-standing weaknesses. While Quartararo and Miller have managed to extract more speed out of the package, Oliveira has struggled to find the same consistency.

For the Portuguese rider, it must be especially disheartening to see Yamaha’s potential future machine already showing signs of competitiveness, while his own bike continues to suffer from instability and unpredictable behavior.

A Risky Future Within Yamaha

Oliveira’s Misano struggles also highlight the bigger picture: his place within Yamaha’s MotoGP project is under threat. The manufacturer has already confirmed that Toprak Razgatlioglu will join Pramac Yamaha in 2026, partnering Miller. Quartararo and Rins are confirmed for the factory team.

That means Oliveira will leave the Yamaha stable at the end of 2025, as his contract has been voided early. With his performances this year falling below expectations, his chances of securing another MotoGP seat are becoming increasingly slim. A return to World Superbikes, where he previously impressed before joining MotoGP, could be an option if no premier-class ride is available.

The Psychological Toll of a Tough Friday

For riders, a bad Friday can sometimes be shrugged off, but Oliveira’s words suggested a deeper level of concern. “A very tricky day… but I expect a big improvement tomorrow,” he said, almost willing himself to remain optimistic.

Two crashes, electrical gremlins, and unstable bike behavior are not easy issues to fix overnight. And with qualifying looming, Oliveira faces the very real possibility of starting from the back of the grid once again. That would only compound his misery and make Sunday’s race yet another uphill battle.

The Portuguese rider has shown resilience throughout his career, often bouncing back from setbacks, but the constant string of difficulties in 2025 has surely tested his patience. Confidence is a fragile thing in MotoGP, and Oliveira knows he needs a positive Saturday to turn things around.

Looking Toward Qualifying and the Race

Heading into Saturday, Oliveira’s main priority will be to find stability in the bike and restore his confidence in the front end. Eliminating the strange electronic behavior is also essential. If Yamaha’s engineers can provide him with a more predictable machine, Oliveira has the experience and talent to recover ground.

However, even in the best-case scenario, a top-10 result looks ambitious given his starting point. More realistically, Oliveira may need to focus on steady progress, avoiding further crashes, and collecting valuable data for Yamaha as the season continues.

Misano is a crucial track for Yamaha, not only because of its location in the heart of MotoGP’s European base but also because of its role as a testing venue. For Oliveira, though, it represents yet another hurdle in a season where the challenges keep piling up.

Conclusion

Miguel Oliveira’s Day 1 at the San Marino Grand Prix was one of frustration and disappointment. Two unexplained crashes in the morning and bizarre electronic problems in the afternoon left him languishing in 22nd place, far from where a rider of his caliber expects to be.

With Yamaha’s focus already shifting toward the V4 project, Oliveira risks being left behind both on track and in the team’s long-term plans. While he remains determined to find improvement on Saturday, the reality is that his 2025 season continues to mirror his Misano struggles—full of setbacks, instability, and unanswered questions.

As Oliveira put it himself: “It was a tough day, but I expect a big improvement tomorrow.” For the Portuguese rider, that improvement can’t come soon enough.