Marco Bezzecchi
Yamaha are now locked in with their V4 engine project after bidding farewell to their inline four after the 2025 MotoGP season, with the 2027 regulations already in mind.
The Iwata outfit were the final team still running an inline four engine during the 2025 term, which left all Yamaha riders with a major deficit on any long straights. Fabio Quartararo et al were regularly left to watch their rivals pull away with the extra grunt from their V4 engines.
Yamaha will swap to a V4 engine in the 2026 MotoGP season, though, after confirming they will change configuration following a few late wildcards in 2025. The Japanese brand hope it can let them improve the M1’s acceleration, as well as how the bike behaves under braking.
Pramac rider Jack Miller hopes to see more from the Yamaha V4 when it makes its full debut next term. Miller thinks Yamaha’s V4 engine lacks horsepower after sampling the unit during test events at the end of 2025. Yamaha adopted a safe approach to its development in 2025.
Yamaha immediately accepted they had to build a V4 engine after reading the 2027 rules
Yamaha chose to be very cautious with their V4 engine during Augusto Fernandez’s wildcard appearances, with the 28-year-old not able to run at full power to protect the unit during its development. Next season will also offer Yamaha more time to learn how to maximise a V4.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Yamaha from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy
Which bike will Fabio Quartararo be riding in 2027?
Team director Massimo Meregalli has revealed that Yamaha decided to invest heavily in the V4 engine, as they immediately realised upon reading the 2027 MotoGP regulations that an inline four unit would not work. MotoGP will switch from 1,000cc to 850cc engines in 2027.
Meregalli told MotoMatters: “As soon as we started reading the future rules, we understood that there was no way to use the inline [four] engine.
“We decided to really make an investment in terms of money and time to try to be prepared as much as possible for 2027 with the new regulations. I might also add that a few months ago, we also started with the new project that is the 2027.”
KTM have beaten Yamaha to track testing their 2027 regulations 850cc engine
What do you make of KTM’s 850cc engine after its first track outing?
KTM are the first team to track test a 2027 MotoGP engine, after Pol Espargaro recently took to Jerez with a development bike. But all manufacturers are currently hard at work creating their units for the new rules, with a maximum cylinder bore size of 75mm instead of 81mm.
MotoGP engines will remain four cylinders and four-stroke under the 2027 regulations, but Yamaha did not believe the reduced capacity would suit developing another inline four unit against a V4. Yamaha also have lots of work to run a competitive 1,000cc V4 engine in 2026.
The electronics on Yamaha’s V4 bike concern Miller, having immediately noticed while riding a modified version of the M1 in the 2025 post-season Valencia test how the bike offered the same problems under acceleration as the inline four package that he rode in the 2025 term.
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