Alex Rins: Yamaha V4 debut also made me faster on the Inline M1

Alex Rins believes it wasn’t a coincidence that his best Yamaha result on the soon-to-be-replaced Inline4 machine came after his debut on the new V4 prototype.

The Monster Yamaha rider claimed a best grand prix finish of tenth during the 15 rounds before riding the V4, in a private Barcelona test, followed swiftly by a half-day outing at the official Misano test.

The Spaniard later matched his tenth-place in Mandalika, a weekend where he qualified in fourth, before securing his best-yet Yamaha finish of seventh in Australia.

“In the Misano test, when we tried the V4, I was feeling quite good and riding a little bit in a different way than what I was used to riding the Inline4,” Rins reflected.

“Then, with the Inline4, I was able to carry that on, and it's true that since the day that we tried the V4, I made a step.

“I was a little bit faster over one lap, a bit more constant, I didn't make many mistakes in a lap, and I was able to stop the bike better. So I'm quite happy about this.”

After finishing his Inline M1 career with 14th place at the Valencia finale, Rins avoided new soft tyres during his first full day on the V4 at the post-race MotoGP test.

The former Suzuki and Honda race winner was 1.347s from leader Raul Fernandez but - like 2026 Yamaha team-mates Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller and Toprak Razgatlioglu - also remained at Valencia for a private test the following day.

Yamaha has officially confirmed it will race the V4 in 2026.