Fabio Quartararo has identified the areas where Yamaha’s new V4-powered M1 is still lacking following this week’s official MotoGP test at Valencia.
The 2021 world champion got his first opportunity to test Yamaha’s 2026 challenger since the Misano test, where he had felt the new bike was “worse” than the outgoing inline-four version.
Completing 46 laps around the Circuit Ricardo Tormo on Tuesday, Quartararo ended up as the top Yamaha rider in 15th place, 0.554s off Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez on the 2025 Aprilia RS-GP.
The Frenchman said the V4-spec M1 is still missing the front-end stability of its predecessor, while a lack of outright power also remains a problem as Yamaha continues to run the engine in a ‘safe mode’.
Quartararo hopes a private test at Valencia on Wednesday will help Yamaha address some of the issues affecting its V4 programme.
“We worked a lot on the bike’s set-up, trying to find the basis, because we don’t have it yet,” he said.
“In a nutshell, we had a very good front end [with the inline-four bike]. Today, we don’t have that. That’s why I say we need to find the basic set-up. Then we know that power is a fairly clear issue.
“We expected the grip to be a little better, but for me, the most important thing is that we still have another day of testing tomorrow, and we need to give the engineers exactly the right directions to find a solution.”
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Yamaha’s test rider Augusto Fernandez debuted a new frame at last weekend’s Valencia Grand Prix, but Quartararo said he hasn’t seen any major upgrades on his side of the garage since the Misano test.
“We were riding practically the same bike [as in Misano]. I’m not going to say it’s a step forward,” he said.
“Tomorrow will be important. We have new things to try, like aerodynamics. So it will be important to see how that turns out.”
Quartararo was overwhelmingly negative about Yamaha’s V4 challenger at the Misano test, even as other riders offered a more mixed reaction.
When told he sounded more positive about the bike than in the past, Quartararo replied: “I’m more neutral. There’s no point in saying too much.
“We need to give the engineers some direction on where to take things forward. For example, today, the front end was clearly something we were lacking.
“The bike wasn’t turning enough, we lacked power, and the grip was quite different. We’re missing quite a lot. But it will be interesting to give the engineers some clear data tomorrow. From my side and from my team-mates’ side.”
On the eve of the Valencia GP, Yamaha firmed up its plans to switch to the V4-spec M1, ditching its inline four motor. Quartararo did have his old 2025 challenger at Valencia, but he completed just two laps on it before switching to the new version. His fastest time of the day was set on the V4 bike.
Yamaha may bring its outgoing MotoGP bike to February’s Sepang test for comparison, but the 26-year-old doesn’t expect riders to spend much time running it.
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