Message

For Yamaha Motor, racing is in our DNA. It has been an integral part of our corporate culture since the company's founding.

Yamaha Motor's first race was the Mt. Fuji Ascent Race we entered a mere 10 days after the company was founded. So, you could say that the history of our race activities is a central pillar in the history of the company itself.

Yamaha was an unknown brand at the time, but we won our debut race in dominating style. Despite being a latecomer among the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, word of Yamaha's performance and reliability soon spread.

Since then, racing has continued to be an important stimulus in Yamaha Motor's growth for over half a century, and the challenges we have taken on in the race arena have brought us a brilliant record of success.

Since we first began competing in the World GP, Yamaha is the only manufacturer to continue its racing activities without ever withdrawing, even when times were hard, and many great riders have joined us in our pursuit of victory.

In 2013, we adopted our new brand slogan "Revs your Heart", and began using it worldwide. This slogan embodies Yamaha's desire to deliver ever-greater excitement to the hearts of people everywhere, like the rising revs of an engine. We believe that motorsports are a direct embodiment of this message.

To that end, Yamaha has newly established the Motor Sports Strategy Division and it will follow three basic policies: branding, feedback of technology and promotional activities. As these aims drive our racing activities forward, we hope to bring special moments of Kando* to people around the world.

Our strategy's focus points are (1) construction of a hierarchy based on encouraging continuous progress upward, (2) area strategies to be implemented in stages and (3) linking race activities with our marketing activities. As we build toward the future, we will strengthen the race environment and infrastructure in each region worldwide. The first step will be providing more opportunities for young riders in Asia and putting in place a tiered structure they can work up through to advance their skills, and thus we will nurture the next generation of talent.

Through our racing activities, from local events all the way up to MotoGP, we want to bring Kando and the "joy of watching" motorsports to fans all over the world.

At the same time, we will offer products that give people their own experiences of the "joy of riding and handling" on a Yamaha.

And lastly, we will provide more opportunities to experience the "joy of racing" through collaborative efforts by the Motor Sports Strategy Division and our local group companies and bases in countries around the world to run promotional activities and build racing infrastructure.

And lastly, we will provide more opportunities to experience the "joy of racing" through collaborative efforts by the Motor Sports Strategy Division and our local group companies and bases in countries around the world to run promotional activities and build racing infrastructure.

The year 2014 is exactly the 50th year since Yamaha won its first World GP title, and next year marks the 60th anniversary of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. We hope that again this year, the Yamaha Blue machines at circuits all over the world will bring excitement to people watching them and that everyone will look forward to the results of Yamaha Motor's ongoing challenge to "Rev your Heart" through motorsports.

*Kando is a Japanese word for the simultaneous feelings of deep satisfaction and intense excitement that we experience when we encounter something of exceptional value.