Yamaha has suspended its participation in this week's Sepang MotoGP test due to safety and reliability concerns with its new V4-powered M1.
The issue is not related to the crash that ultimately ended Fabio Quartararo's participation in the three-day test after only one day but rather due to an engine problem he experienced when he temporarily rejoined the action on Tuesday afternoon before the broken finger that ended his week was diagnosed.
That problem flagged up safety concerns that resulted in Alex Rins, Jack Miller, and Toprak Razgatlioglu sitting out Wednesday morning's action.
“We had an issue with electronics," Quartararo initially told the media when asked if he had engine problems when he rejoined the test in the afternoon. “It was not the engine, as far as I know."
However, that turned out not to be the case, with the problem later diagnosed as something instead related to the new V4, echoing problems that according to The Race's sources Yamaha also experienced during the three-day shakedown test earlier this week.
“Yesterday afternoon, Fabio had a technical issue," team boss Maio Meregalli explained exclusively to The Race, “and now just for a pure safety matter the engineers want to really understand what caused this issue before restarting testing.
“We don't know how long it will take; we are still discussing from here to Japan, but hopefully they will come up with at least an answer as soon as possible. We don't know the reason, and they really want to know.
“This was in the afternoon - it wasn't related to the crash."
While it's perhaps not the most costly moment for Yamaha to lose track time given that (thanks to its concession status) it completed three days of shakedown testing at the Sepang circuit last week, Meregalli emphasised that the team is nonetheless keen to find a resolution to the issue as soon as possible.
“If it is not an issue that can create a safety [problem], then we will restart soon," he explained.
“I don't know if soon will be today or tomorrow, but they only found it last night and today when we arrived they asked us to please wait, because they really need to understand the root of the problem.
“Luckily we already did two and a half days during the shakedown, and then yesterday. I cannot say that the plan has been completed, but 80% of the job is done.
“It's always a pity when you are here and cannot ride, but luckily we were able to gather information also last week."
The issue comes amid some complaints from Yamaha's riders that the new V4 engine - designed to close the gap to the faster straightline speed of the rest of the grid over Yamaha's traditional inline four configuration - still isn't enough.
Rins revealed on Tuesday that Yamaha is still awaiting a new and better spec that is unlikely to arrive ahead of the first race in Thailand in less than a month's time.
“It's still missing power," he replied when asked about V4 progress by The Race.
“Everyone can see it on the TV [timing screens]. They explained to us that another engine is coming, but more like in a month or two months. We need to wait."
