The Czech Grand Prix will take place at the Brno Autodrome from July 18th to 20th, but before that there is a lot of talk about the Czech circuit, whether it is about a test with the test drivers MotoGP for tires, from the place of possible return to racing Luca marini or private tests conducted there by Yamaha…
Among all these evocations, several nevertheless seem certain. The date of the Grand Prix obviously, but also the test conducted by Yamaha with Andrea Dovizioso et Augusto Fernandez continue the respective developments of the Yamaha MotoGP, since we know that the Japanese firm is continuing its work in both the directions of the inline four-cylinder engine and the V4.
After first runs in Valencia and in Barcelona, this latest version was also present in Brno, in the hands of Andrea Dovizioso, alongside the one equipped with the 4-cylinder in-line and numerous Moto2.
The first photos, taken from various videos probably taken with a mobile phone, clearly show the prototype of the Yamaha V4 with the exhaust from the rear cylinder bank under the saddle.
On the video broadcast by Andrea Dovizioso himself on his Instagram account, the M1 also appears to feature a massive swingarm that's likely a working unit rather than a finalized version, with optical sensors similar to those used by Ducati on its development machines, as well as gold leaf used as heat shielding.
The central position of the rear exhaust seems to exclude any use of a mass damper, as is the case on the inline four-cylinder, and in any case we are obviously not there yet.
Besides, where are we?
The official word, repeatedly hammered home, assures us that the Yamaha V4 will only officially line up if it reaches at least the level of competitiveness of the classic M1.
“We do plan for the (official) riders to test the bike, but not to race it. It will depend on how the next steps go. As we have always said, this is a development project alongside the competition. Now that the bike is out on track, it’s official. And as I often say, the more the M1 progresses in terms of performance, the more interesting and challenging the internal competition becomes. But we really want to get the best out of the V4, to make it a bike of the future, while remaining as competitive as possible every weekend with the current package.”
However, fabio quartararo dropped out in Assen that Yamaha is counting on it for 2026: « normally next year we will have a new bike, completely new, with the V4"
Time flies, and the post-Misano test in September might be the chance to see the beast up close. Until then, The information attributed to the very discreet Brno test is available here...
Yamaha V4 photos
