One of the aspects that pilots have complained about the most is the engine, and that is why the Japanese manufacturer is looking for alternatives to its inline four. Right now it is the only manufacturer in the premier category that uses it, and that is why they were seriously considering making a decision and betting on a V4.
It was precisely Maximo Bartolini, Yamaha’s technical director in MotoGP, who spoke clearly about the matter in an interview on Crash.net. After analyzing Yamaha’s situation and the differences between the inline engine versus the V4, he acknowledged that Yamaha is working on it. And although it has some advantages, it also has some clear disadvantages.
But he was also frank about the situation that arises from such a large structural change, and that is that a change in engine concept does not only entail the replacement of that element, but also immediately involves changing everything that surrounds it.
«When you think about the V4 engine, you don’t have to focus only on the engine. Having a V4 engine means building a completely different bike: a different chassis, different weight distribution and other components. But we still don’t know if it will be faster or not. Therefore, we must build it and test everything before making a decision.
Yamaha will make the decision as soon as possible and being totally pragmatic
It must be taken into account, however, that all this change seems more focused on 2027 and the change in regulations than on seeing the new V4 engines, if they reach that extreme, in the next two seasons. That means Yamaha will have to strive to give a more competitive package to its riders in 2025 and 2026, or else they are in for two difficult seasons.
What they are clear about, according to Bartolini’s own words, is that they are not going to opt for one or another type of engine out of romanticism, but rather for what the stopwatch says. And they will have to discard one of the two to focus their efforts only on the other.
«2027 is approaching. We cannot continue developing several projects in parallel. This requires a lot of time and effort. “We will stay true to the fastest package, whatever it may be.”
Therefore, Yamaha has to choose a path and it is so important that it will mark the future of the new M1s that will compete with the change in regulations. A complicated choice, since taking a wrong step means that the bike would have to change completely to choose the other option and that is something that, today, does not seem very feasible.
