2005 International and Domestic Motorcycle Race Team and Rider Profiles

The 2005 program of Yamaha factory and support teams for international and domestic race activities has been finalized. Again this year, Yamaha will be involved in a variety of race activities both domestically and internationally, ranging from road racing's MotoGP to motocross and trial competition, as well as snowmobile and kart racing.

Competing in the premier MotoGP class of road racing will be four riders from two teams. Racing for the factory Gauloises Yamaha Team will be last year's champion Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards. And riding for the satellite Fortuna Yamaha Team will be Ruben Xaus and Toni Elias. With these teams Yamaha will be seeking its second straight MotoGP title. The machine the teams will use is the Yamaha YZR-M1, which is now in its fourth year.

In motocross, Yamaha teams will compete in the pinnacle MX1 and MX2 classes. This season will be the second since the competition returned to a 2-heat-per-round format. Competing for the Yamaha Factory Team in the MX1 will be Stefan Everts, who won his eighth world championship title last season. His new teammate will be Brian Jorgensen and together they will compete on the YZ450FM to win Yamaha consecutive titles. Entering the MX2 class on the YZ250FM will be Cedric Melotte, competed prominently last season in MX1.

In the AMA Supercross series that began on January 8 in the USA, the Yamaha Factory Motocross Team enters last year's champion, Chad Reed, who is going for his second consecutive title. Continuing to race for the team like last year will Tim Ferry and David Vuillemin. The same riders will also be competing in the AMA National Motocross Championship series that begins in May.

Other international teams will include two supported by Yamaha's European companies Yamaha Motor Italy and Yamaha Motor France, both of which will enter the World Superbike Championship. Riding for the Yamaha Motor Italy team will be Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt, while the Yamaha Motor France team will enter Norifumi “Norick” Abe and Sebastien Gimbert. Their machine will be the YZF-R1.

In domestic Japanese road racing, the YSP Racing Team sponsored by PRESTO Corporation will once again enter Shinichi Nakatomi in the JSB1000 class of the All Japan Road Race Championship riding the YZF-R1. Also competing again this year will be teams managed by YSP (Yamaha Sports Plaza = sport bike shops) shop owners.

In the All Japan Motocross Championships, the top Yamaha team, Jubilo Racing Team, will enter seven riders. Competing in the IA1 (International A 250cc) class will be Takeshi Koikeda, Taichi Kugimura, Manabu Watanabe, Shinobu Idehara and Takuma Kojima. Competing in the IA2 (International A 125cc) class will be Tadashi Kugimura and Yuya Ozaki. Also, top privateer Kohji Ohkawara and will enter as he did last year from his own OHKAWARA Racing team in the IA1 class.

In the International A Super class of the All Japan Trial Championships, Takumi Narita and fast-improving Isao Shibuya will compete as they did last year on the TYS250 from their respective teams.

In the Super A class of the All Japan Snowmobile Championship series, which began on February 6, five competitors, Shinji Tozawa, Kiyotaka Kawagoe, Masafumi Terasaki, Sho Inaba and Nobuaki Eikura will ride the new 4-stroke machine RSVector from their respective teams.

In the All Japan Kart Championships, last year's ICA class champion, Kasumi Sano, will race in the Eastern District FA class from the BP Yamaha Racing Team. The machine is the Yamaha SuperWinforce.