Alex Rins has confirmed that Yamaha introduced ahead the deliberate wild-card debut of its new V4 prototype from Motegi to this weekend’s Misano MotoGP spherical.
Till now, the V4 has been confined to non-public exams, with no official lap instances launched.
That can change this weekend, when the bike goes head-to-head towards the full-time Yamaha riders, on the present Inline M1, plus rival V4 equipment from Ducati, Aprilia, KTM and Honda.
“I hope he finishes in entrance of us!” Rins informed MotoGP.com, when quizzed about Fernandez’s V4 debut. “This may be a extremely optimistic factor.
“Everybody goes to have an eye fixed on him. So let’s examine how the weekend goes.”
Rins added that Yamaha’s determination to provide the bike an ‘early’ debut was itself a optimistic signal.
“We’ve had some suggestions from [Augusto]. He is fairly proud of the bike,” Rins mentioned.
“Nonetheless it’s fairly ‘recent’ [new], as an instance.
“However they had been imagined to wild-card the V4 in Japan, in order that they anticipate [brought it forwards].
“And when these sorts of issues are anticipated, it is at all times excellent news.”
Quartararo: “Actually necessary to observe one course”
Rins and team-mate Fabio Quartararo obtained their first style of the M1 throughout a rain-interrupted check at Barcelona on Monday.
“I am actually wanting ahead to seeing it on monitor with particularly all the opposite riders,” Quartararo mentioned of this weekend’s race debut.
“It is going to be necessary to see which place it’s in, and particularly what his feeling is on a special monitor than Barcelona.”
Formally, Yamaha is holding each the Inline and V4 choices open for 2026, however Quartararo admitted:
“I feel it’s fairly clear… I imply, it is actually necessary for them to observe one course, and I feel that they’re on it and they’re working rather a lot,” he mentioned.
Quartararo, and different race riders, are as a consequence of journey the V4 at Monday’s official Misano check.
Misano focus “not on efficiency benchmarks”
In the meantime, Yamaha’s MotoGP technical director Max Bartolini performed down efficiency expectations for Misano.
“Our staff has designed a coherent bundle: energy supply, chassis stability, and aerodynamics tuned as a system,” he mentioned.
“This weekend’s focus is just not on efficiency benchmarks, however on operational studying beneath real-world MotoGP Grand Prix circumstances.
“Our key goals are to validate core assumptions, collect high-quality information, and inform the following section of iteration.
“Whereas the long-term ambition stays a aggressive V4 platform for the 2026 season, any last dedication might be primarily based on an analysis of outcomes on the finish of the 2025 programme.
“This initiative is a strategic method to broaden our technical choices and speed up our studying curve to make sure we take advantage of knowledgeable determination for our future in MotoGP racing.”
