Yamaha Provides Timeframe for New V4 MotoGP Engine

Recently we brought you the news that Yamaha was developing a new V4 engine for MotoGP, with plans to drop its inline-four that has seen them winning many, many world championships.

Yamaha has been one of the most successful manufacturers of the 21st century, with only Honda winning more races and world championships in MotoGP. Yamaha’s inline-four engine, which for many years allowed them to be the corner kings of racing, has now fallen behind in terms of performance compared to the more favoured V4.

As a result, Yamaha has taken this onboard and developed a V4 of its own which could be debuted in the middle of next year.

Speaking to MotoGP.com ahead of this weekend’s second Misano round, Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director, Lin Jarvis, provided a timeframe for when Yamaha’s new V4 could be seen.

“I can confirm that we are busy developing a V4 powerplant,” he said. “It’s something that goes back a while, because when Suzuki was still here, there were two manufacturers running with the Inline4. And obviously the other competitors are running with the V[4].

“In the last years, however, we've seen many, many technical developments in this sport and of course Suzuki stepped out. So we've been the only manufacturer remaining with the Inline4. The Inline-four, in our opinion, still has plenty of capacity to be developed and to be improved.

"But when you have all of your competitors using V4s and now as we look towards the 2027 regulations, it's important for us to fully understand the potential of a V4 versus the Inline-four. So based on that, some time ago we took the decision to start the project. The project is on schedule… The engine is already being bench-tested.

"We've not run it in a bike yet but when it is ready with its durability testing, then we'll finally start to track test it.”

However, Jarvis quickly provided a statement that took me by surprise concerning the new 2027 regulations, where he admitted a decision on whether to run a V4 or inline-four has not been made.

Jarvis added: “When [the V4 is] quicker than the Inline-four, we'll bring it in. So let's see! Obviously, one of our intentions is to look and to check what type of engine we need for 2027. But at the moment 2027 is too far away for us, so we need to start now. We need to get experience. I don't know when you will see it racing, but track testing will not be so far away.

“Based upon the development and hopefully positive developments, then maybe in the middle of next year, you might see it on a track. We've got a lot of work ahead of us but I think with the two strong teams, with four strong riders, plus a lot of very good engineers working for us, I think that we will return.”

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