For years, Yamaha has stuck with its in-line-four engine in MotoGP. After Suzuki made its exit in 2022, Yamaha became the last manufacturer remaining with this engine configuration.
Whether or not that hurt the Japanese motorcycle marque’s chances at MotoGP in the last few seasons, however, will soon become irrelevant. Yamaha Motor Racing managing director Lin Jarvis has revealed that a V4 engine built specifically for MotoGP is already in the works.
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“Regarding the other rumors about V4 which we’ve read about recently in the media, it’s true. I can confirm that we’ve been busy developing a V4 powerplant,” said Jarvis. “When Suzuki was still here, there were two manufacturers running with the in-line-four, and obviously, the other competitors running with the V. 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 in-line-four.
“The in-line-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 new regulations, it’s important for us to fully understand the potential of a V4 versus the in-line-four.”
Jarvis confirmed that the decision to begin work on the V4 was taken “some time ago.” The project is supposedly “on schedule,” and that the engine is already being bench-tested. He also confirmed that the engine hasn’t been tested on a bike, but Yamaha will begin doing so once the powertrain is ready for durability testing.
Asked when Yamaha plans to use the bike for MotoGP, here’s what Jarvis had to say: “When it’s quicker than the in-line-four, then we’ll bring it in.”
Fair enough answer. Slight jokes aside, Jarvis said that Yamaha will still have to get experience with its new engine configuration, but “track-testing will not be too far away.” By the middle of next year, he says that could already begin.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us but with two strong teams, four strong riders, plus a lot of very good engineers working for us, I think we will return,” he added.
