Last week, Yamaha took to Spain to test its secretive V4 MotoGP motor and, finally, we've heard what Team Blue's new engine sounds like. My takeaway? It ain't that glorious crossplane. But time and tide wait for no man, and Yamaha had to respond to everyone else.
The test day comes as the Japanese manufacturer remained the lone holdout on the Grand Prix grid utilizing an inline configuration. Every other team and manufacturer had already switched to chase Ducati, hoping to bite at the Borgo Panigale team's heels. But late last season, Yamaha took to conceding a V4 was likely its future powerplant, telling the world it had an engine in development.
And then things went mum, as you'd expect from a race team looking for any edge it could muster. But given how MotoGP's concessions work for lower-placed teams, i.e., more private test days, tire setups, etc, Yamaha's in a good place to develop a new engine this year. That's why they took to Valencia's MotoGP track last week for a private test of the new engine, which you can hear below.
