Is it really all doom and gloom with Yamaha’s new MotoGP bike?

Fabio Quartararo’s fiery outburst while riding Yamaha’s new V4 MotoGP bike has been the talk of the brand’s Buriram test so far, but are there really no positives yet?

Yamaha hopes its V4 project will ultimately return it to championship-winning ways in the next few years, having fallen to the back of the grid in recent seasons.

But the new bike has had a difficult start to life, with it proving uncompetitive in wildcard outings last year and unreliable in pre-season testing in 2026.

While there have so far been no repeats of the engine issues that robbed Yamaha of a day of running at Sepang, it still didn’t look competitive on the opening day of the Buriram test.

Jack Miller was its leading light in 17th, though was over a second off the best pace set by Alex Marquez on the 2026-spec Ducati.

When he spoke to the media following his frustrating day, Fabio Quartararo - who was 18th - conceded that Yamaha won’t really be ready to race even a month from now.

“In one week’s time, even in a month, we will not be ready on my side,” he said.

“Maybe the other Yamaha riders are a bit better. But I think since I’ve been with this bike, I’ve never made two runs in a row with the same bike.

“I’m always trying something. And even changing a lot, we are not able to find a base setting and make an improvement.

“This is what we’re trying to find. But at least tomorrow I would like to keep the same bike, even if I don’t like it.”

‘My heart rate was 190bpm just to finish 19th’

The Yamaha V4 is conceding around 10km/h to the fastest bikes on the grid, while Alex Rins noted rival machines have much better traction.

“We are losing a lot in terms of engine in power.,” he said.

“It was quite clear. But also on the traction side. On the traction side it looks like, not only Ducati, but Honda, Aprilia, they get better traction than us and they get more benefits: they recover more out of the corners and then gain on the straights.

“On braking I feel a little bit more comfortable, but this one doesn’t turn so good.”

Rins understands team-mate Quartararo’s frustrations, noting when asked how he is dealing with the situation: “I try to scream in my office. That’s all. I bring it to my office. It’s really frustrating. I was at 191bpm heartrate for the time attack to be P19.

“So, there’s nothing more we can do. The riders are ready, the bike is not so ready. So, let’s understand and let’s wait.”

Yamaha V4 ‘doing some decent things’, claims one rider

While Yamaha is clearly in no position to even think about regular top 10 finishes at the moment with its new bike, Miller was far more optimistic about what he has seen so far.

“Bike seems to be working relatively decent,” the Pramac rider said on Saturday.

“Obviously, sector one, sector two is our Kryptonite at the moment. But that’s to be expected.

“The bike, I feel relatively happy with it: sector three, sector four, I feel like I can get the thing turning, especially with this special tyre we have here for Austria, the different casing, I’m able to find grip pretty decent.

“We’ve got a little bit more work to do, but in general, happy enough with the day, happy enough with our base.

“With the chassis we weren’t happy with in Malaysia, we made some adjustments and stuff like that, and happy with the direction of that.

“It looks like the new aero is a bit better. We didn’t have that today, but we will have it on tomorrow.

“There are a few things to try, but we’re not going to find 10km/h overnight. That’s what we’re missing at the minute. But in general I’m enjoying riding the bike, it’s doing some decent things.”