Yamaha rider Alex Rins revealed that the manufacturer’s V4 engine for its MotoGP project is two seconds slower than the current M1.
The Japanese manufacturer remains the only factory on the grid running with an inline-four engine, but has been working on creating a V4 ahead of the 2027 regulation changes.
The engine has already been introduced to on-track action, as test rider Augusto Fernandez tried out the V4 ahead of the SpanishGP in April.
While both Yamaha riders have expressed the engine is not yet race-ready, Rins gave more insight and suggested the bike is two seconds slower than the current M1.
“It’s inevitable – and you can’t even imagine how hard I tried to get them to let me test the bike. And they told me, ‘No way’,” Rins said ahead of the German GP.
“I don’t know if I can say it, but what I saw is that [the V4] is very good. As is normal, in such a new project there are always things to test.
“They [told me off] because I uploaded a video of Augusto going out on track, and they made me delete it.
“What I can tell you is that I was riding behind Augusto in the practice starts we did, and I was surprised,” admitted Rins.
“I did 1m52.7s with my bike and I think they – Augusto – managed to lap in 1m54.8s or 1m54.7s.”
Rins, however, does not believe that is the true gap, given the lack of laps and new-tyre runs.
“It’s not really two seconds, it’s less. I did 70 laps the first day and 40 the second.
“I think they did 30 laps between the two riders over the two days because they had to spend a lot of time stopped, assembling and disassembling things.”
Fabio Quartararo was also questioned about the V4 in Germany, but said he would not comment until he tests the machine, which is likely to be at the Misano test.
“I will test it around September, I think at Misano,” said the Frenchman.
“The comments are positive, but until I test the bike, it’s just the engineers telling me things. I can’t really feel the potential until I test it.”
