Yamaha Factory Racing's Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies (Photo: Yamaha Racing)

Yamaha's MotoGP boss, Lin Jarvis, confirmed that the Qatar issue was a crack in the underside of the carbon fiber seat unit on the bike, which Spies had earlier crashed in qualifying.

"The crack was really difficult to see and the seat itself wasn't damaged. But the crack was in the black area of the carbon midway underneath. We found that at Jerez and cured the problem and there was no chatter," he said.

In Jerez Spies struggled to get through the fast, sweeping corners which make up about 80% of the circuit. After the legitimate bike issues at Qatar it wasn't the outcome he wanted to kick-start his season.

While the Texan dismisses the brazen opportunism of Dovizioso who claims he is chasing a place in the factory team for 2013, Yamaha management have noted their own expectations.

They expect more wins and podiums from their 2009 World SBK Champion. No doubt Spies has his own, even higher ambitions.

"To have this result is very disappointing for Ben and Yamaha," Jarvis said. "What we need to do now is understand the reasons why. This is not what Ben is looking for and it is not what we are looking for.

"But there another 16 races to go. Qatar was a disaster for Ben, he fell twice and damaged the bike. We found that problem in Jerez and the idea was for Ben to reboot his season there."

After two races Spies is 11th in the standings with 10 points.