The countdown has begun. Fabio Quartararo is eagerly awaiting the crucial Misano test, which will determine whether the all-new Yamaha V4 can sweep aside the historic M1 and make its official debut as early as 2026. For the Frenchman, the criteria is clear: " I think if I try it and I'm within half a second of my lap time, it will be a good step forward. Because it will be the first time I've used it. »
Le V4 will make his first public appearance with Augusto Fernandez as a wild card during the San Marino Grand Prix. But the real test will come the next day, when Quarterly will take the handlebars. Yamaha was firm: the V4 will only race if it is “at least as good” as the current inline-4.
Quarterly, mentions a regret: "I had the feeling that we had to test it before, but it's not me who chooses »
Si Yamaha relying on braking and stability to compensate, the 2021 champion insists: without an engine, there is no battle on the track. Honestly, for me, this is one of the most important points. You see how difficult it is to overtake in MotoGP.If you don't have the engine to prepare for an overtake, you can't do it. »
Fabio Quartararo: “ we need power, otherwise it's not a combat bike »
And he adds, categorically: " even if the bike is fast, I need a machine that can fight during a race. If I don't have the maximum power, it won't be a combat bike. »
For the moment, Yamaha still restricts his prototype: "the engine has not yet reached its full potential. It does not yet give us all the power," he confided Augusto Fernandez.
The current M1 reported at Quarterly four poles and one podium this season, but the Frenchman languishes in tenth place in the championship. The 4cc V1, if validated, will only last one season before giving way to the 000cc version of 850.
fabio quartararo wants a radical change, Yamaha wants to reassure, and Misano could become the turning point of an era in the project MotoGP from the Iwata company: the historic Inline4, born in 2002, is on the verge of retirement.
