Yamaha to test V4 MotoGP engine at Valencia this week
Augusto Fernandez and Cal Crutchlow likely to evaluate radical alternative motor, with Honda joining the test
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Karim Jaafar - AFP - Getty Images
Yamaha plans to test the V4 engine it has been developing for its M1 MotoGP machine at a private test in Valencia on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Motorsport.com has learned.
Although the testing concessions enjoyed by the brand would allow Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins, the factory team’s riding pair, to put it through its paces, the work in Valencia is expected to fall to Augusto Fernandez and Cal Crutchlow.
Yamaha originally signed Andrea Dovizioso to focus on the testing of its V4 engine experiment, which has been under way for some months already. However, the Italian is not fit to ride following a domestic mishap in which he broke his collarbone.
Motorsport.com understands that this will be the first time the V4 engine has been tested on a European circuit. Earlier this year it made its debut in a private session at Sepang in Malaysia. That test featured a very early version, however, with a lot of work still to be done on the electronics in particular.
Augusto Fernandez, Pramac Racing
Photo by: Noushad Thekkayil - NurPhoto - Getty Images
Yamaha is the only manufacturer on the current grid whose bikes compete with an inline four-cylinder engine. But pressure from its riders, who have long complained of a lack of top speed, has led Yamaha's engineers to look for alternatives – including a drastic change in the engine layout.
“If and when the bike with the V4 engine is better than the one we are using now, then we will introduce it,” Yamaha boss Paolo Pavesio told Motorsport.com in February. “[But] it is not realistic to think about making the change in 2025. When we give that bike to the factory riders we have to be convinced that it is at a good level.”
Although the Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers Association (MSMA) agreed to a freeze on MotoGP power units from the first race of this season until the end of 2026, Yamaha has been given the green light to work on the V4 project with the current 1000cc engine. Under the new regulations, the sport is moving to an 850cc engine that will appear on the scene in 2027.
For this project, the Japanese firm has the support of Marmotors, the engineering company run by Luca Marmorini, a renowned technician with a wealth of Formula 1 experience.
Jerez was planned as the venue for this week’s test, but flooding around the Andalucian venue forced the temporary closure of the track due to host the Spanish GP next weekend. Thanks to the rule banning testing at a circuit 14 days before a grand prix, Valencia will now host MotoGP prototypes for the first time since serious floods forced the cancellation of its usual season-closing race in 2024.
Joining Yamaha at this week’s Valencia test will be fellow Japanese manufacturer Honda. Former Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro, who retired from MotoGP at the end of 2024, will test the bike as part of his new development role at Honda. He’ll take to the track alongside Stefan Bradl.
Honda is however expecting a more significant step to come in the Jerez test that follows next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at the same circuit.
"Quite a few important things are going to arrive [at Jerez],” said its team manager Alberto Puig in Qatar. "I'm not going to say anything, but it’s quite a few things that can help us to improve the bike, if they work as we hope. So the test in Jerez will be very important for us."
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