Yamaha must “take into account” the transition to a V4

For several months, Fabio Quartararo has been complaining mainly about a lack of grip on his Yamaha, never corrected despite attempts to improve the engine, aerodynamics or even the chassis. In the absence of progress, the Frenchman is starting to question himself on Yamaha’s ability to break out of the rut with its current engine architecture.

The M1 is the only bike on the grid equipped with an inline four-cylinder, a solution that has both strengths and weaknesses compared to V4s, but which prevents the transposition of certain solutions from competing machines.

“We know that our bike is much lower”explained Quartararo on the sidelines of the Aragon GP, ​​detailing how the lack of grip is characterised. “They are higher, in a different position. We know that but we can’t do like them because our bike is totally different. They have V4s, we have a four-cylinder in-line, we don’t have mechanical grip.”

So should Yamaha abandon its technology and finally adopt a V4? “I think you have to look at all the options and I think it’s more something to talk to the engineers than me, because in the end I’ve never driven a V4.”recalled Quartararo, nevertheless curious to see change in this area: “But if you look at the motorcycles that work, they all have V4s.”

“OK, Honda is struggling but in the end, we are the only ones with an inline four-cylinder. Maybe that’s something to take into account.”

Manufacturers will have to profoundly modify their engines in any case with the 2027 regulations, which will see the cylinder capacity reduced. In this context, imagining a profound change in technology before this deadline seems very difficult, but Quartararo does not rule anything out: “I’ve seen a lot of weird things so it wouldn’t be weird for us!”

“Honestly, I don’t have any answers because I don’t know if we’ll use a V4 or not, and 2027 is still a long way off. Maybe I won’t even be at Yamaha in 2027, so…”