MotoGP
Exclusive: Yamaha’s V4 MotoGP bike seen for the first time!
After months of waiting, we’ve managed to get the first photos of Yamaha’s all-new MotoGP bike, designed to revive the factory’s fortunes in MotoGP
Yamaha unveils V4-powered bike ahead of Misano MotoGP debut
MotoGP
All-new V4 Yamaha will make its MotoGP racing debut at Misano this weekend ahead of further testing
Yamaha
Yamaha has officially unveiled its new V4-powered bike ahead of this weekend’s San Marino MotoGP round, a move that signals a major shift in the company’s racing strategy.
It comes two months after we exclusively revealed spy shots of it during private testing at Brno.
Test rider Augusto Fernández will debut the bike in race conditions under a wild-card entry, while Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins are scheduled to ride it during Monday’s official public test in Misano.
The YZR-M1 prototype marks a departure from Yamaha’s long-standing use of the inline-four engine with which the company has won eight riders’ titles and five manufacturers’ championships since 2002.
In recent years, however, Yamaha has struggled to stay competitive: The inline-four M1 has not won a race since 2022 despite being granted concessions to make up for its lack of form against its European rivals.
All of Yamaha’s MotoGP rivals use V4 engines.
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The V4 format offers advantages in engine compactness, high-rev performance, and especially aerodynamic packaging.
One of the major technical motivations for the switch is aerodynamics, as V4 engines are inherently narrower than inline-fours, allowing more freedom under existing MotoGP rules to shape fairings and downforce-generating surfaces.
Under new rules to be introduced in 2027, the aero advantages are likely to become even more pronounced.
Veteran test rider Andrea Dovizioso, in collaboration with Fernández, has been key in the development work of the new bike.
Fernández has already ridden the bike in several private tests, one of them held at Misano.
The new engine is the start of a new era for Yamaha
Yamaha
Takahiro Sumi, Yamaha’s general manager for the motor sports development division, acknowledged the challenge of developing both a new engine architecture and a new chassis simultaneously while still running the existing racing programme.
“We have taken on an ambitious project developing a new V4 engine and a whole new bike, and it is particularly demanding when done simultaneously with the 2025 bike development,” said Sumi.
“Such a challenge comes with high stakes and pressure: it’s the type of project that can only be done right when it’s not just a ‘team effort’ but a ‘company effort’, and all involved have to give it 100%.
“From the start of the V4 project there were many questions to be answered, and we are still in the development stage, but one thing is for certain: our goal is to return Yamaha to winning ways with an evidence‑based approach.”
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Part two of our chat with Yamaha’s ex-Ducati, ex-Ferrari F1 tech boss Max Bartolini, who tells why MotoGP’s current tyres and new rules made a V4 inevitable and why it’s so difficult to catch Ducati
Yamaha said the sole purpose of the wild card entry to gather data, and that no bike development decisions will be based on this weekend’s results.
Subsequent steps include further testing at Sepang and Valencia, the manufacturer said.
“Our team has designed a coherent package: power delivery, chassis balance, and aerodynamics tuned as a system,” said Yamaha’s technical director Massimo Bartolini.
“This weekend’s focus is not on performance benchmarks, but on operational learning under real-world MotoGP Grand Prix conditions.
“Our key objectives are to validate core assumptions, gather high-quality data, and inform the next phase of iteration.
“While the long-term ambition remains a competitive V4 platform for the 2026 season, any final commitment will be based on an evaluation of outcomes at the end of the 2025 programme.”
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