Yamaha will debut its MotoGP V4 engine earlier than expected, with Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins set to try the prototype at a private Barcelona test.
Yamaha has decided to move up the timetable for its long-awaited V4 engine.
Originally planned to be tried out for the first time by their factory team riders at the Misano test, the Japanese manufacturer will now roll out the prototype on Monday at Montmeló.
The private test will feature Fabio Quartararo, and likely Alex Rins, marking the first official outing of Yamaha’s new engine.
Quartararo confirmed the news on Friday after finishing 11th on the opening day of practice at the Catalan Grand Prix. The result left him outside the top ten and forced him into Q1.
“Yes, I’ll test the V4 engine on Monday. Everyone asks me, and soon we’ll know,” the French rider explained.
Fabio Quartararo has called on Yamaha to fast-track its new V4 MotoGP engine after all four M1s finished last in Austria, describing the result as “ridiculous” and urging immediate change.
He has been pushing Yamaha for weeks to fast-track development, warning that the factory risks falling further behind its rivals.
“Yamaha knows it is months and months behind and late with the V4 project,” he underlined on media day.
The location of the private test day, at which Yamaha will share the track with Honda and Aprilia, is significant: Augusto Fernández had already put the first version of the V4-equipped M1 on track here months ago.
That early run has since allowed engineers to refine the power unit further. On Monday, Yamaha will compare the new data against Fernández’s earlier session to evaluate progress.
Progress, that, although Yamaha looked set for a big step-up in performance at the beginning of the season, has halted, if not reversed, in recent weeks.
Friday’s practice confirmed the scale of the Japaneses’ challenge once more. The low-grip Barcelona surface again exposed Yamaha’s weaknesses, leaving Quartararo 18th in FP1, more than a second off Pedro Acosta’s best time.
“We knew we were going to struggle. The morning was one of the worst sessions of the year,” he admitted.
The afternoon brought slight improvement, but yellow flags on his final time attack cost him a chance to secure direct entry to Q2.
“I’m still confident we can make it through [Q1] tomorrow, but today[‘s Practice] was one of the worst sessions of the year.”
