Changing to V4 MotoGP Engine is Not A Certainty for Yamaha
Despite all the development and recent murmurings that it will switch from an inline-four to a V4, Yamaha has confirmed it will use the quickest engine configuration after 2025
A few weeks ago it seemed a certainty that Yamaha would ditch its inline-four engine set-up once the newly-developed V4 was ready, which could be in 2026 with a debut for the engine taking place next season.
However, it doesn’t appear that the V4 is definitely to replace the inline-four, as Yamaha’s MotoGP technical director Max Bartolini has confirmed the Japanese company will use whichever engine configuration is the fastest.
Bartolini arrived at Yamaha from Ducati, who dominated the MotoGP season again in 2024 with 19 victories out of 20 races, and did so with a V4 engine.
Since Suzuki departed the sport at the end of 2022, Yamaha has been the only brand using an inline-four set-up, but Yamaha not only fell behind Ducati following its title success in 2021, it has also fallen behind KTM and Aprilia, both of whom also use a V4 engine and the power unit was seen as a clear weakness until recently.
That prompted Yamaha to begin development on a new V4 engine as it gets set for a huge change from its racing DNA, which is its traditional, sweet-sounding, inline-four.
But when discussing the manufacturer’s plans, Bartolini told MotoGP.com: “When you think about the V4 engine you have to think not only about the engine. Having a V4 engine means you have to build a completely different bike. So, different chassis, different weight distribution, different parts on the bike.
“But we have no idea if it’s faster or not at the moment. So, we have to build the engine, build the bike, check if it’s faster, and then decide. We have to decide in 2025, and I hope to have the information to decide in 2025.”
The Italian also stated: “Our target is to be as competitive as possible. I have in mind to see something better at the end of next year and to be a little bit closer in 2026 - that would be wonderful, the best option that I can imagine.
“But, you have to think that the others, they don’t stop working, they work very hard and they keep pushing very hard. So, you don’t just have to recover, you need to speed up more than them, so that makes the time longer.”
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After graduating with a sports journalism degree, Robert joined Crash.net to lead the WorldSBK coverage in 2021, while also providing MotoGP coverage. Fulfilling that role for over three years, Robert was able to put his knowledge about all things racing to the test.
