Yamaha YZR-M1 V4-powered, developed by the Japan-based company in Iwata, made its Grand Prix debut on Friday at Misano. The bike was ridden by Spanish rider Augusto Fernandez as a wildcard, which brought both good and bad news.
Initially, the new M1 was fast. But, it also showed to the world reliability issues, which, although may be common when facing such a challenge, which is nothing but debuting a new prototype, the fact is that it created a negative note in the first engine test on the asphalt. After more than 20 minutes of session, the Yamaha slowly stopped on the track, until Fernandez parked it on the side of the circuit named after Marco Simoncelli.
Until then, the Yamaha V4 left a good impression on everyone attending the Free Practice 1 session of the MotoGP San Marino. The bike was very fast from the start, matching other bikes on the grid with the same power unit, as the Japanese manufacturer is the only one still using a four-cylinder inline engine.
Fernandez was able to clock a time of 1:32.537, which, at that time, placed him in the top 10. Fabio Quartararo, with his usual Yamaha bike, led the session with a time a tenth of a second faster.
But it didn’t stop there, as Augusto Fernandez, who on Thursday extended his contract as a Yamaha test rider until 2027, was able to get back on the track with a second bike equipped with a V4 engine. The Moto2 champion was unable to improve his time in the final stage, but still ended up in 21st place, ahead of LCR Honda Team riders Johann Zarco (three tenths of a second behind) and Somkiat Chantra (one second behind).
As for other Yamaha riders, Fabio Quartararo finished in second place with a time of 1:31.591, one second faster than Fernandez’s V4. However, the other M1 finished closer: Jack Miller in 13th place (1:32.015), Miguel Oliveira in 14th place (1:32.017), both half a second apart, and Alex Rins in 18th place (1:32.471), just 0.066 seconds behind. Overall, it was a good debut for the prototype, but with issues that, logically, still need to be resolved.
