Besides the on-track trending stories from the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, there’s also plenty of other headlines to be keeping tabs on. One of the hot topics in recent months has been the development of Yamaha’s V4 engine, after the Japanese manufacturer – who have traditionally used inline four-spec configurations – confirmed publicly in September in 2024 that a V4 was in the pipeline. Prior to Jerez, official test rider Augusto Fernandez was on track with a V4-engined Yamaha MotoGP™ machine but maintained that it’s “very early” in the project to talk about when we could see it more.

Speaking in pitlane on the World Feed, Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Paolo Pavesio responded to whether or not we’d the V4 engine introduced in 2025: "Yes, this I can say is our target. if we are capable to achieve the target we will see. We want to be ready for a wildcard, so we want to be ready with Augusto being on track really benchmarking our V4. If our new bike will be good enough and faster than the current bike, there is the possibility of racing with it next year."

So far on the grid, Yamaha are the only manufacturer to use an inline four configuration, following Suzuki’s withdrawal at the close of 2022. Ducati, Aprilia, KTM and Honda all use the V4 configuration and have been doing so for some time. Whilst Yamaha have remained faithful to the inline four, they’ve yet to win a Grand Prix since Fabio Quartararo’s (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) victory at the Sachsenring in 2022, whilst Suzuki’s final GP in Valencia of the same season is the most recent win for an inline four, achieved by Quartararo’s current teammate Alex Rins.

On the front row already in 2025 and close to the podiums, Yamaha’s 2025 package is competitive and a step forward from 2024.