Quartararo Unveils Yamaha's V4 Gaps Post Valencia Test

Fabio Quartararohas pinpointed the areas where Yamaha's latest V4-equipped M1 is still falling short after this week's official Moto...

Fabio Quartararohas pinpointed the areas where Yamaha's latest V4-equipped M1 is still falling short after this week's official MotoGP test in Valencia.

The 2021 world champion finally had the chance to evaluate Yamaha's 2026 model since the Misano test, during which he found the new machine to be "worse" than the previous inline-four configuration.

Riding 46 laps at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo on Tuesday, Quartararo finished as the leading Yamaha rider in 15th position, 0.554 seconds behind Trackhouse's Raul Fernandez, who was on the 2025 Aprilia RS-GP.

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The Frenchman mentioned that the V4 version of the M1 is still lacking the front-end stability of its predecessor, and a shortage of maximum power continues to be an issue as Yamaha keeps the engine operating in a 'safe mode'.

Quartararo is hoping that a private session in Valencia on Wednesday will assist Yamaha in resolving some of the challenges facing its V4 project.

We put in a lot of effort on the bike's configuration, trying to establish the foundation, as we don't have it yet," he said. "To sum it up, we had a very good front end [with the inline-four bike]. Today, we don't have that. That's why I say we need to determine the basic setup. Once we do, we'll know that power is a fairly straightforward issue.

We anticipated the grip would be somewhat improved, but for me, the key point is that we have another day of testing tomorrow, and we must provide the engineers with precise guidance to identify a solution.

Yamaha’s test rider Augusto FernandezUnveiled a new chassis at last weekend's Valencia Grand Prix, but Quartararo mentioned he hasn't noticed any significant improvements from his team's side since the Misano test.

We were basically riding the same bike [as in Misano]. I'm not going to claim it's a step in the right direction," he said. "Tomorrow is crucial. We have new elements to test, such as aerodynamics. So it will be important to see how that works out.

Quartararo expressed strong disapproval of Yamaha's V4 machine during the Misano test, while other riders had a more varied response.

When informed that he sounded more optimistic about the bike than before, Quartararo responded: "I'm more neutral. There's no need to say too much. We have to provide the engineers with some guidance on where to focus moving forward. For instance, today, the front end was clearly an area we were missing."

The bike wasn't providing sufficient turning, we were lacking in power, and the grip felt quite different. We're missing a lot. However, it will be interesting to provide the engineers with clear data tomorrow. From my side and that of my teammates.

On the night before the Valencia GP, Yamaha confirmed its decision to transition to the V4-spec M1, abandoning its inline four engine. Quartararo had his previous 2025 model at Valencia, but he only completed two laps on it before moving to the new version. His quickest time of the day was achieved on the V4 machine.

Yamaha could introduce its previous MotoGP machine to the February Sepang test for evaluation, but the 26-year-old does not anticipate riders spending much time on it.

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