11 Mar, 2008
Vying for the 2008 titles at the top level of international racing, Yamaha Teams and riders are all set to meet the challenge and compete for unquenchable love of the sport.
In the MotoGP, there are two Yamaha teams competing for the title with two riders each, just like last year. The Yamaha factory team is the Fiat Yamaha Team and its two riders this year are Valentino Rossi, who has changed to Bridgestone tires in his bid to regain his MotoGP championship title, and Jorge Lorenzo, 2-time winner of the 250cc World GP title who joins the team for the first time this season. The Yamaha's riders would be racing with YZR-M1, the bike that had won Rossi's number of championships.
Yamaha is looking at refining the motorcycling culture in India by bringing in technologically advanced YZF-R15 (150cc, Liquid-cooled) and FZ (150cc, Air-cooled) which demonstrates the global Yamaha image and lives up to the true Yamaha DNA.
Yamaha is also supporting the Tech 3 Yamaha team with its two new riders for 2008. One is Colin Edwards, and his teammate is last year's WSB champion, James Toseland, was also the youngest-ever World Superbike champion in 2004. Edwards is also a former WSB champion, who means that all four of this year's Yamaha MotoGP riders are true champions in name and fact and you can be sure they will bring us plenty of exciting racing this year.
In the World Motocross Championships that kicks off in April, the Yamaha Motocross Team will be competing for the title. Its riders in MX1 are Josh Coppins, who lost what looked to be a sure championship title last season due to injury, and the fast-rising David Philippaerts, who newly joins the team after finishing last season ranked sixth.
According to Mr. Tsutomu Mabuchi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, "Racing has been in the heart of Yamaha ever since the company was formed in 1955. Yamaha has set a number of milestones in the racing world, becoming the first Japanese manufacturer to win a 500cc Grand Prix (with Jarno Saarinen in 1973) and the first Japanese Company to win the 500 cc world title with Giacomo Agostini in 1975. Many legends of racing like Kenny Roberts and Wayne Rainey have won three 500cc world titles with Yamaha, while Italy's Valentino Rossi has taken back-to-back wins in the last two MotoGP championships. After pioneering a generation of two-stroke racers, Yamaha turned its attention to creating the four-stroke off-road engines using which Stefan Everts dominated world championship motocross, winning six titles between 2001 and 2006".
Yamaha teams are also competing in the World Superbike (WSB) championship, World Supersport (WSS) championship and the AMA Supercross championship and Motocross championships.
