Yamaha Unleashes New V4 M1 at Valencia Test

Quartararo, Rins, and Miller improve their feeling on 2026 machinery as Toprak adapts 

MotoGP wasted no time shifting into 2026 mode, with teams rolling straight into the traditional post-season Valencia test just two days after the 2025 finale. For Yamaha, it marked a significant moment as both the factory Monster Energy squad and the new-look Prima Pramac Yamaha outfit put laps on the long-awaited V4-powered YZR-M1 prototype.

Heavy overnight rain meant the morning was written off entirely, forcing all work into a condensed window from early afternoon. That left riders across both Yamaha camps focused more on gathering baseline data than chasing times.

Fabio Quartararo and Álex Rins used the shortened session to familiarise themselves with Yamaha’s developing V4 package. Quartararo briefly popped up near the top early before settling into set-up work, ending the day 15th with a 1’29.927. Rins stuck to long-run evaluation and finished 19th on a 1’30.720.

Across the garage at the satellite Prima Pramac Yamaha team, the day doubled as a milestone: the official MotoGP debut of triple WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu. The Turkish star spent the afternoon adapting not only to the prototype V4 M1 but also to the demands of MotoGP machinery, tyres and electronics. He finished an impressive first outing in 18th place with a 1’30.667 after 53 laps.

Jack Miller also began his transition into the Yamaha fold, completing 51 laps on the early-stage prototype and finishing 20th with a 1’30.864.

Both Yamaha teams remain at Valencia for a private test tomorrow before shutting down for the winter break. MotoGP testing resumes with the Sepang shakedown from 29–31 January, followed by the official Sepang Test on 3–5 February and Buriram on 21–22 February.

Jack Miller (1’30.864s)
“Solid first day on the V4. Bike’s fresh out the box so there’s plenty for us to fine-tune… electronics, fuelling, front feel, the whole lot but the direction’s good. Fabio’s already thrown down a hot lap so the potential’s definitely there. One more day of testing then I’m off home to switch off for a bit before we crack on with 2026.”

“It was a busy day as we tried to understand the new bike and provide solid feedback. There‘s a lot to do, and we‘re working on it. This bike has only a few days of life so far, and it‘s still very much a work in progress, but we‘ll keep pushing. We know the strengths and we know the weaknesses — now it‘s our job to give the engineers the most precise feedback possible so they can work over the winter to find the best solutions.”

Fabio Quartararo (1’29.927s)
“Today was quite a short day. It was not already the goal to find something better than in Misano. We were mainly working to find a base set-up and find the feeling on the front. The riding style is completely different, but I like riding with the V4. It’s still too early for a complete verdict. Luckily, tomorrow we have one more day of private testing – it will be an important day.”

Alex Rins (1’30.720s)
“The bike has slightly improved. They didn’t change anything such as the gearbox or big items, but I felt better than in Misano. I didn’t make many laps because of the track conditions, but the laps we did were proper laps in terms of feeling. We worked a lot on the settings, and I can say that having tomorrow as another test day, I focused more on race pace than putting a soft in for a time attack. Overall, I feel quite good, so we’re at a good starting point for tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli, Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
“Today was the first day of 2026 winter testing. We were not so much looking at performance but rather focused on gathering as much data as possible. Unfortunately, the conditions of the track due to last night’s heavy rain didn’t help proceedings. But luckily, a few months ago we anticipated this, and we have a private test here booked for tomorrow. This extra day will most likely give us the time needed to evaluate the updated parts, such as a different chassis and a different aerodynamics package, and we can also work on set-ups.”

Gino Borsoi, Team Director, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP
“It was a hugely important day for Yamaha, as we‘ve started a new era with the V4 engine and had all four riders on track with the new YZR-M1 prototype. And of course, the real debut of Toprak — who, at this stage, can‘t give feedback at the level of Jack and the others because everything is new for him — but he started this new adventure extremely well. He was very good and very precise in understanding the bike‘s dynamics; you can tell he feels the bike from the feedback he gives, and in my opinion he was very fast — much faster than I expected, considering how little he knows so far. And as a person, I really like him: he‘s very easy to work with. What impressed me the most is his braking — it‘s incredible — although compared to Superbikes he has to adapt to these tires and this bike, learning to… brake less. But from the data you can see he has already understood this and is starting to apply it to be more efficient. Between him and the new bike, this is a new challenge for us — we need a new spirit, and Toprak will definitely be important here. And now we‘re already preparing for the first stoppie battle between him and Jack; with these two, we might just become world champions in this specialty!”

MotoGP Valencia Post Season Test Times