GP four-strokes won’t test together until February

Honda and Yamaha won’t go head-to-head against each other with their new four-stroke GP bikes until the middle of February.

So far the Japanese factories have kept tests of the RCV and YZR-M1 separate and will continue to do so for most of the winter. But it has been confirmed that the two will meet on track for the first time at the International Race Teams Association test at Jerez in Spain in February.

At the moment it looks like the RCV and M1 will be the only four-strokes on next year’s revised grid, with the MZ project looking doomed and Aprilia reportedly well behind schedule on the development of its new machine. It looks like the Noale factory may start next season by wheeling out their old 500 V-twins for the first few races of the campaign.