Fabio Quartero pushes for Yamaha V4, blames the gap to rivals on the engine

Fabio Quartaro The only rider is able to challenge constantly Mark marks This season in the battle of pole posts. The French set the fastest qualifying lap at Jerez, Le Mans, Silverstone and Essen, while Championship leader Marx has started with a poll on seven occasions. The only other rider Packo Bagania sitting on the pole has been the last time in the Czech Republic.

The stability and speed of a-lap from Yamaha rider, however, has not translated into the results of the race. His only podium came in this season when he finished second in Spanish Grand Prix in Jerage.

After another disappointment in the Czech Republic – where he qualified on the front ro (third), but could have finished the sixth, 11 seconds only 11 seconds from the winner – Quartero felt how helpless against the increasing number of rivals.

In Brono they were beaten by two ducatis, two apris and one KTM – and it could be two KTMs if Ineni Bastianini There was no crash while running in the position of podium. Quartaro blamed that loss on the engine. While the current M1 of Yamaha runs a four-cylinder inline engine, its three European rival uses V4 engine.

“I am not sure, because I am not an engineer and I have never tested V4, but Ducati has a chassis, KTM another and Aprilia (a third) – all are different,” he reflected. “And what I am seeing is that we have similar weaknesses compared to those bikes. So I think (problem) is related to the engine.

“(Three manufacturers) are completely different chassis from each other, but the problems are the same for us,” they insisted. “The only thing that they all are: the engine,” he said, referring to V4S.

In September 2024, Motorsport.com revealed that Yamaha started working on a new V4 engine To change the present. Development is progressing, with recent on-track tests conducted by Test Riders Augusto Fernandez And Andrea Dovizioso,

While initially it was talked about introducing the new engine in the second half of 2025, its beginning has now been pushed back to 2026 – but Only if it proves that it can perform better than the current version,

2021 is world champion Keeping your policy to pressurize the manufacturerBut he knows that the results do not come overnight. So he is also asking it to improve the current M1, because he sees a clear lack.

“Catch. This is what we are disappearing. In fact, the exhaust of corners is not so bad – the initial part is not bad – but what is lacking under breaking and entry into the corner. It’s something that really punishes us.”

Poles are not enough

The French star renewed two more sessions with Yamaha in April 2024, but he is not ready to rely on the Ivata factory until he sees a clear indication of progress. He feels that he is ruining the best years of his career. Despite four poles in this season, Quartaro has not won a race over three years ago since Germany 2022.

In Silverstone in May, he experienced a cruel moment when he was leading the race by a comfortable margin and his Yamaha faced a mechanical failure, which left him trapped.

Polls are not enough for French only. He does not understand how he can be so strong in the same lap, yet in the event of the race, he is unable to try a single overtake.

“I don’t know why this happens. When I am riding alone, I get my rhythm, I can push my ride, go closer to the border, but when I am in a group, I lose a lot – the back, power, aircraft, overall performance.”

But he concluded with a message of hope: “We are working hard to fix these issues.”

Time will tell if Yamaha is enough to maintain it.