Yamaha is accelerating the development of its V4 engine for MotoGP, with the ambitious goal of a wildcard entry as early as 2025, according to Yamaha Motor Racing CEO Paolo Pavesio. At the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, Pavesio told motogp.com that the V4 engine, tested in Valencia by Augusto Fernandez, could appear in races if progress is made. Fernandez, Oliveira's test rider and replacement at Pramac Yamaha, is tipped to ride the wildcard entry.
MotoGP may be about to witness a historic turning point for Yamaha . After decades of loyalty to their traditional inline four-cylinder, the Iwata brand is actively working on a completely new V4, and if the objectives are met, the beast could make its wild-card debut this year!
It was during the recent test at ValenciaWhere Augusto Fernandez took the handlebars of the prototype, that the news became serious. Yamaha is testing its 2025 project with the current M1 and its future project: an engine V4 designed to compete with the Ducati, KTM Honda et Aprilia.
Paolo Pavesio, General Manager of Yamaha motor racing, confirmed to motogp.com in Jerez: " the goal is to make the V4 bike as good as possible and, as soon as the bike is ready, to challenge us in a wild-card »
He said that this plan was set at the beginning of the year and that the team remains focused, despite the complexity of such an ambitious project: " we develop a completely new motorcycle with a configuration that is not common to us, but we continue to work on the two parallel projects »
Fabio Quartararo seduced by the V4 Yamaha project
Asked about the concrete possibility of seeing the V4 on track before the end of the season, Pavesio left no room for doubt: " I can say that This is our goalWe want to be ready with Augusto Fernandez to really evaluate our V4 »
The team boss Yamaha He nevertheless specifies that the transition to the V4 in MotoGP will depend exclusively on performance: " If the new bike is good enough and faster than the current bike, there will be the possibility of racing with it next year. But only if the V4 outperforms the inline-four »
As for fabio quartararo, already convinced by the idea, he clearly expressed his wish to see Yamaha switch to this new configuration for 2026. Pavesio concludes by recalling that Yamaha must fight two battles in parallel: " We have high expectations and the ability to progress this season with the current M1. But, at the same time, there are a second project. » And if this project came to rewrite the history of Yamaha en MotoGP ?
