Yamaha will have new engine components ready for the 2026 debut in Thailand, but they won’t improve the V4’s lack of top speed until MotoGP visits Jerez in April.
In the year In 2026 MotoGP season It starts in Buriram this weekend, followed by trips to Brazil, the US and Qatar. Jerez will host the first European round on April 24-26. Yamaha Now imagine that the Spanish circuit will give the modified V4 engine its first chance to field.
Pre-season testing proved to be a challenging affair for the Japanese manufacturer as the new V4 engine that Yamaha will compete in found its riders at the bottom of the time sheet at Sepang and Buriram. Pramak beginner Toprak Razgatlioglu He has never been higher than 20th in Buriram.
pramac pilot Jack Miller And a factory Yamaha rider Fabio Quatararo Finally the Buriram test was able to show some promise in the new V4 M1 on the final day, taking eighth and ninth on the timesheet. But by then Miller was a full second off the fastest lap.
Yamaha won’t have a modified V4 engine until the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
2026 Buriram test simulating Miller’s race In a real race I would have seen him finish between 40 and 50 seconds off the leader. But Motor sports magazine Claims Yamaha can only deliver parts this week. Grand Prix of Thailand To improve the reliability of the V4.
Read more: Everything you need to know about the 2026 MotoGP season, from the calendar to the drivers
Yamaha had to stop testing in Sepang due to problems with their V4 enginewhich then limited the runs they could produce. In addition, Quatararo had to control his teammate Alex Rins A spare bike for the last day at Buriram when he hit the distance limit on both bikes.
Iwata bosses are hopeful that the new parts that Yamaha expects will arrive in Buriram before the Thai GP. But Yamaha won’t have an updated engine until the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, first, with no updates before then.
Factory Yamaha riders Quattararo and Rins and Pramac pair Razgatlioglu and Miller will face a ‘significant speed deficit’ in race conditions for at least the first four rounds of the 2026 season. Their V4 engine project is a far cry from the very beginning, as Yamaha had hoped.
Toprak Razgatlioglu’s top speed in the Buriram test was 6m/h from the fastest effort.
Pre-race tests at Sepang saw Yamaha take part in a shakedown as the only MotoGP constructor in the Concessions D category, and Buriram last month was a wake-up call for the Iwata team just how far behind the curve the new V4 engine is.
The Yamaha riders now face a bad start to the season, with Buriram also making his debut this weekend at the Thailand GP. Quattararo set the best top speed at the Buriram test at 336.4 km/h (209 mph) on a V4 Yamaha M1, but Ducati, KTM, Aprilia and Honda performed better.
Read more: Every MotoGP rider is injured at the moment and how many races they won’t miss.
Razgatlioglu’s best lap speed at Buriram was 333.3 km/h (207 mph) in the afternoon, but the three-time WSBK champion clocked 330.2 km/h (205 mph) in the morning session, plus 328.2 km/h (203 mph) and 329.2 km/h (329.2 mph) in the morning session. (204.5 mph) in day two.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia set the fastest top speed of 342.8 km/h (213 mph) on the afternoon of day one and the morning of day two at Buriram. Aprilia ace Marco Bezecic also set a top speed of 341.7 km/h (212.3 mph) on the afternoon of day one.
In fact, he is said to be a Ducati rider. Bagnaia returned from joining Yamaha for 2027 in favor of Aprilia After seeing how wicked their new V4 engine did at Sepang. He was thought to be leaning towards annexation. Yamaha-bound George Martin But it will be replaced by Aprilia.
