The Asian leg of the MotoGP is always a period that throws up unpredictability and even opportunities for lesser-fancied riders, teams, and factories to achieve strong results; but Yamaha says it is heading to its home race, the Japanese Grand Prix, on 26\u201328 September with \u201cone eye on 2026\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Iwata factory debuted, in a race scenario, the V4 engine it is expected to race with all four of its official bikes \u2013 those both of the factory Monster Energy Yamaha<\/a> team and the semi-factory Pramac Yamaha team \u2013 in the 2026 season at the previous race in Misano with its official MotoGP<\/a> test rider: Augusto Fernandez<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fernandez will not race this weekend in Motegi, but it became apparent at Misano that the V4 should return to MotoGP race action at the Malaysian Grand Prix at the end of October.<\/p>\n Even still, Monster Energy Yamaha Team Manager Massimo Meregalli says that Yamaha is already looking ahead to 2026 with six races still remaining in 2025, including this weekend\u2019s Japanese Grand Prix.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Japanese GP is always a special round for Yamaha,\u201d Meregalli said.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s our manufacturer’s home race, and it means a lot for the team to compete in front of our colleagues from the factory and the many passionate fans who always give us their full support.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are heading into the important overseas leg of the season: a significant stage to book progress with an eye on 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cJapan is the perfect place to underline Yamaha’s fighting spirit. As usual, the team will give it their best effort to put on a good show for the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n Quartararo \u201cready to give my maximum\u201d<\/p>\n The change currently happening within Yamaha means that its riders are in a kind of limbo; since the inline-four engine is expected to be retired at the end of this season, the mileage ridden on the bike in the final races of 2025 is unlikely to provide any benefit into the future, so the relevance of any result is limited strictly to the present.<\/p>\n