Building a completely new bike throughout the season
In September 2024, Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis confirmed that the company was developing a V4 engine. Since then, Yamaha has frequently been in the news for testing a V4 engine.
Yamaha is currently the only manufacturer in MotoGP using an in-line four-cylinder engine. The other four manufacturers, Ducati, Aprilia, KTM and Honda, all use V4 engines. Yamaha will be lagging behind the European manufacturers from the 2022 season onwards.
Will Yamaha, which has stuck with in-line four-cylinder engines since the 4-stroke MotoGP era began in 2002, switch to a V4 engine? On Thursday of the Austrian Grand Prix, we spoke with Yamaha Motor’s Motorcycle Vehicle Development Division’s Motorcycle Development Department’s MS Development Department, Takahiro Sumi, about the current status of V4 engine development.
“This is a completely new challenge that will prepare us for the future. We are tackling this with great determination.”
“Developing a completely different bike while competing in the same season is a huge challenge, something that is rare both in the current MotoGP world and in the past. In such a situation, the old ways of doing things no longer work, so we are changing our methods in various ways and somehow managing to push forward with this parallel development. Of course, from a technical standpoint, we are working on it with clear analysis and confidence.”
Developing a V4 engine means changing everything, including the chassis, the surrounding parts, and the aerodynamic devices. In other words, it means developing an entirely new bike. And what’s more, it’s all being improved and evolved from the current in-line four-cylinder YZR-M1.
“It’s unpredictable. It’s new to us, so we’re still trying to see if we can make it work.”
“Of course, testing is progressing smoothly. However, it’s not just about ‘We just want to be able to race the V4 next year.’ We’re developing it as a new tool to help us win, so our first goal is to ‘confirm its superiority’ over the current (in-line four-cylinder engine) machines.”
“There is still a lot of work to be done. We are not at a point where we can be certain at this point, but we are in the midst of a development phase leading up to next season.”
Regarding the deadline for making a final decision, he said, “The sooner the better, and it would be good if we could confirm the superior performance of the machine package, but we haven’t reached that point yet, so I can’t say for sure when.”
After this interview, on August 25th, Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Paolo Pavezio announced on social media that the V4 engine would be put into action at the San Marino Grand Prix.
This will be the first time that Yamaha’s V4 engine bike will be publicly revealed, so we’ll be keeping an eye on its performance.
profile
General Manager of Motorcycle Development Division, Motorcycle Vehicle Development Division, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.
President of Yamaha Motor Racing
Takahiro Sumi
He is primarily responsible for the design of mass-produced motorcycles and the YZR-M1 chassis. He has served as the YZR-M1 project leader since 2019, and in 2022 he was appointed General Manager of the Motorcycle Development Department and President of Yamaha Motor Racing (Italy). ©Eri Ito
