Yamaha to race new V4 frame at Valencia MotoGP

Yamaha’s V4 MotoGP bike will run with a new chassis at the season-closing Valencia Grand Prix this weekend.

In doing so, the Japanese manufacturer appears to have responded to remarks by the V4’s development rider, Augusto Fernandez, at the bike’s last race outing in Malaysia.

Valencia will be the third of the V4’s wildcard appearances in 2025, as well as the scene of a vital test on Tuesday next week. At that test, all four of Yamaha’s 2026 race riders – including rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu – will try the latest V4 bike.

Fernandez confirmed on Thursday that the chassis is so new that it did not even run at Yamaha’s private test a few days ago at Aragon, where he and Razgatlioglu rode the previous iteration of the V4. He was hopeful that it would represent the first serious response to the issues the bike faced in its debut at Misano in September.

“This chassis is the first answer that we have to the problems we had [at Misano],” said Fernandez. “So, hopefully it’s the correct one.

“The most important thing to try this weekend is this thing. Also to then develop the next steps for [the Sepang test] next year. To understand the direction to take. This can hopefully help.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Andrea Dovizioso, Augusto Fernandez Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Yamaha

Fernandez said he hoped for a more competitive showing at Valencia than in Malaysia, even though this will still in essence be a test weekend for the bike. While the V4 engine will still run in ‘safe mode’, that will be less costly at the tight circuit.

“The engine is the same, so this will be a problem. But at Valencia maybe we can defend ourselves a little bit better than in Malaysia, for sure.

“And we can have… not a competitive weekend, but a weekend that I can enjoy a little bit more than Malaysia, at least.”

One issue Fernandez said he hoped would now be solved was a dramatic change in the bike’s behaviour once the tyres dropped in performance. He said it was an issue that went beyond mere wear.

“As soon as the tyre drops a little bit, it’s a completely different bike.

“It’s the bike itself. As soon as it drops a little bit and you have another kind of force on the frame, it’s behaving differently. So we need to adjust [that].

Augusto Fernandez, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

“This is something maybe the frame can [help with], but also [other] things, electronics-wise and everything.”

Following the Tuesday group test, Yamaha plans a further day of private testing at Valencia on Wednesday.