Yamaha V4 ‘still has same problems’ in Valencia MotoGP practice, ‘but that’s positive’

Yamaha’s V4 MotoGP bike still has ‘the same problems’, according to test rider Augusto Fernandez, but experiencing this at the Valencia Grand Prix ‘is positive’.

The Japanese brand’s development V4 bike is making its third wildcard appearance this weekend with Augusto Fernandez at the helm.

The Spaniard ended the day 20th overall, 1.027s off the best pace set by KTM’s Pedro Acosta, despite crashing in the early stages of Practice.

The V4 has a new chassis to try following its last outing at the Malaysian Grand Prix, which Fernandez said was “slightly better”, “but not the answer” to the bike’s ongoing front-end issues.

He feels that the problems he has experienced so far on the bike persist in Valencia, but that is a good thing, as it proves this is a consistent issue and not circuit-specific.

“It’s slightly better,” he said of the new frame.

“No negatives, but not the answer. It’s not touching the point. It’s slightly better, but not the answer.

“Just a small difference. Apart from the chassis and everything, we worked good today - not like in Sepang, where we had a lot of issues.

“The package is what it is. In Sepang, I think we could have done a much better job during the weekend with what we had.

“Here, we started ok. FP1 was ok, also for me in riding, I was on the pace. I was able to feel everything better.

“Of course, the problems are the same, also in this track, which is a positive because it means we are touching similar problems on different tracks.

“Valencia is a particular track, small, whereas Sepang is very different.

“We are struggling in the same way, so that’s positive. Tomorrow, with this chassis, we have some room to play and see if we can improve on the problems we have, which is no secret; it’s the front part of the bike.

“Today, it was very critical. I crashed today in the third lap of the Practice.

“The conditions were critical, but we suffer even more there.

“So, let’s see if tomorrow we can improve in that area and understand the direction we already think is the correct one [and] confirm it.”

Yamaha V4 still has no base set-up

Fernandez says the V4 still doesn’t have a base set-up, so Yamaha will have to make “centimetre changes” on Saturday to find something.

“We are still looking for the base,” he explained.

“We don’t have a base. Again, it will be centimetre changes tomorrow.

“But, now we have the option on this new frame to do it a little bit more, so we will use it and we will see in the end what is next.”

He added: “This is the thing with this bike: it’s patches.

“You fix one thing, then you have a problem with something else.

“But until we have another chassis and more room to play with the chassis, it will be like that. This is the point where we are right now.”