Detail

Yamaha's Major Racing Team Structure in 2015

February 6, 2015

SEPANG, MALAYSIA and IWATA, JAPAN, February 5, 2015 – Yamaha Motor announced today that its factory teams will compete in the MotoGP World Championship, MXGP World Championship with the aim to clinch championship titles.
In the MotoGP World Championship, Valentino Rossi (ranked 2nd last year) and Jorge Lorenzo (ranked 3rd last year) will ride for Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, Yamaha Motor's factory team. Pol Espargaró (ranked 6th last year) and Bradley Smith (ranked 8th last year) will ride for Yamaha Motor's satellite team Monster Yamaha Tech3. Both teams will race Yamaha Motor's 2015 version of the YZR-M1, which has clinched 6 world championships so far. The aim of this season is the triple crown of rider, team, and constructor titles.
In the MXGP World Championship, YAMAHA FACTORY RACING YAMALUBE will participate in the elite MXGP class with the YZ450FM and riders Jeremy Van Horebeek, ranked 2nd last year, and Romain Febvre, who is stepping up from MX2 class and joining our team from this season.

2015 marks the 60th year since the founding of Yamaha Motor in July 1955, as well as the company's involvement in motorsport since its participation in the third Mt. Fuji Ascent Race in 1955. Yamaha Motor's basic racing direction is as follows:
1) Branding - increasing the value of the Yamaha brand;
2) Technical Feedback - transferring the technologies gained through motorsports to production models; and
3) Promotional Activities - growing interest in race participation and spectatorship worldwide. In addition to racing activities in world championships, Yamaha Motor will also launch its racing campaign including our factory team in the All Japan Championships as well as our participation in the Asia Road Racing Championship. In order to share Kando* with the world based on the direction outlined above, Yamaha Motor will continue to roll out its racing activities strategically.

*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.