YAMAHA SKIPS QATAR MOTOGP ROUND WHILE PRAMAC’S MOTO2 TEAM COMPETES

Yamaha’s two MotoGP teams will miss the Qatar Grand Prix at Lusail after the company decided not to relax its existing travel restrictions. The announcement came two hours after the Malaysian GP. Yamaha said its assessment of the situation around the Persian Gulf had not identified sufficient grounds to change its company-wide policy.

Japan has issued travel advisories for several countries on the Arabian Peninsula, including Qatar. These are recommendations rather than a legal ban on travel, but Japanese citizens are expected to heed them. Yamaha staff and other team personnel who are Japanese nationals living in Japan could travel to Qatar, though the government strongly advises against it.

Yamaha’s absence may be less costly in MotoGP than it would be for a title contender. Fabio Quartararo, the manufacturer’s leading rider, is 14th in the championship. His fifth place in Barcelona on May 17 remains Yamaha’s best Grand Prix result of the year. The company is also near the bottom of both the constructors’ and teams’ standings.

The decision does not extend to Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha’s Moto2 operation. Yamaha supports the team, but it is not the team’s decision-maker: Pramac owner Paolo Campinoti is in charge, and the squad has no Japanese members. Its championship position also makes Qatar especially important. Izan Guevara, who is set to move to MotoGP next year, is just 3.5 points behind series leader Manuel Gonzalez ahead of the race.

The contrast raises an unanswered question: would Yamaha have made the same call if Quartararo, Alex Rins, Jack Miller or Toprak Razgatlioglu were fighting for a world title?