I like Yamaha—I grew up watching my then hero, Valentino Rossi, dominate on the M1. So it kills me to see how poorly the brand has performed in MotoGP over the past few years, and unfortunately, it still is. Not even one day into the first day of testing for the whole grid of manufacturers, Yamaha suspended testing for all its riders due to a safety concern with the V4-powered YZF-M1.
The news for Yamaha isn't good, but it's not as bad as it sounds. Yesterday, Yamaha's MotoGP team decided not to participate in any more testing due to safety concerns, before the first day had finished, which is extremely odd in modern MotoGP, especially during the last year of a ruleset. The exact issue isn't known, but it has to do with the engine, and if it's bad enough to necessitate a halt in testing, it's probably down to a leak or the possibility of a seizure—although less likely.
This sounds catastrophic, as the first race of the season takes place on March 26, but I doubt Yamaha is viewing it through such a negative lens.
Due to the manufacturer's concessions, the team already had three days of Sepang shakedown sessions before this, which is when the engine issue was first noted. Again, due to concessions, this isn't the exact engine the Yamaha bikes will be running all year because the powerplant is in constant development, and new iterations will be used throughout 2026. Finally, due to rain and then extreme heat, most teams barely went out on the second day of testing.
If Yamaha riders like Alex Rins, Jack Miller, and Toprak Razgatlioglu—Fabio Quartararo is out due to a broken finger–miss the final day of testing, that'll be the most damaging aspect of this whole ordeal. With a new, updated engine on the way soon, it's the riders who are suffering the most as they're still trying to dial in their setups on a totally new machine from the one they rode in 2025. Arguably, none are suffering more than MotoGP rookie Razgatlioglu, who hasn't even been able set up the M1 with rear winglets due to FIM MotoGP regulations and his 6' 1" frame.
Of course, if the riders don't do well, then Yamaha doesn't do well, but I don't believe most people at Yamaha expected to do well in the MotoGP 2026 season anyway. The team decided to develop and run a completely new V4 engine and frame from the ground up ahead of the ruleset changes in 2027, so any issues would be teased out in this season, rather than dealing with new rules and engine issues all at once.
Unfortunately for its riders, Yamaha is probably more OK with seeing these issues come and fixing them in 2026 than going all in on being competitive this year, and it's the right decision for the longevity of the brand in MotoGP. Furthermore, fair play to Yamaha for taking its bikes off the track and not putting its riders or anyone else's in danger for the sake of a few tenths.
Thankfully, Yamaha was able to get its YZF-M1 back on track for the final day of testing. Yamaha likely restricted the bike's RPM limit for safety reasons. Miller, Rins, and Razgatlioglu completed 74 laps between them. Rins clocked the fastest time, which was 1.178 seconds slower than the fastest rider, Gresini Ducati's Alex Marquez.
