FACTORY YAMAHA 2011 LAUNCH

Stokes70

Senior Member
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Jan 15, 2011
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Yamaha Factory Racing officially presented the 2011 YZR-M1 MotoGP prototype that reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo and team-mate Ben Spies will ride this season, in a special event held in Malaysia on Monday.

The unveiling of the 2011 livery took place in front of gathered media at the Sepang Circuit, as both Lorenzo and Spies posed alongside their respective bikes which will take to the track tomorrow (Tuesday) for the start of the three-day official Test.

In the attached free videos you can take a detailed look at each rider’s bike as well as the M1’s new livery, which features strongly Yamaha’s corporate blue colours in the year the Japanese factory celebrates its 50th anniversary of being involved in GP racing. A special 50th Anniversary logo has also been created for 2011, and is displayed on the fuel tank of the new M1.

As a further part of the celebrations to mark this year’s milestone for Yamaha a dedicated new website has been created, and there will also be events at the Motegi and Assen rounds of the 2011 World Championship.

Attending a press conference at the Monday launch alongside Lorenzo and Spies were Yamaha Motor Racing MD Lin Jarvis, new Team Director Massimo Meregalli, and Team Manager Wilco Zeelenberg. They were also joined by Shigeto Kitagawa, Masahiko Nakajima and Kouichi Tsuji.

Lorenzo commented: “I'm very happy to be here again preparing to start another season riding with Yamaha. Winning the World Championship last season was an incredible feeling, but now we start again. I have a great crew and with the hard work of the Japanese engineers over the winter I feel confident we can fight for more success this year.”

Spies, last season’s Rookie of the Year, stated: “We worked really hard last year to earn the seat with the Yamaha Factory team so it's a great feeling to be here alongside Jorge. It's obviously a special year for Yamaha with the 50th Anniversary of GP racing celebrations so I'm really thrilled to be part of it. The bike's feeling really good, we've got a few days more of testing now to really shake it down and fine tune the set up and we'll be ready to go. I'm loving the corporate blue colour scheme, I'm a big fan of the design.”

Jarvis added: “I'm proud to be here for the 2011 Yamaha Factory Racing launch and the start of a new era for the team. This is an important year for us being our 50th anniversary of involvement in Grand Prix racing and we start the season not only with the reigning MotoGP World Champion but also welcoming Ben Spies, last year's Rookie of the Year to the Factory Team. It's fitting that we will line up for the start of this special year in our corporate colours.”

Take advantage of the attached free videos and accompanying photos to get fully acquainted with the 2011 YZR-M1. Additionally, motogp.com will also have highlights of the launch event along with exclusive interviews with both Lorenzo and Spies later today!
 
Interesting to note that J-Lo has switched from Dainese to Alpinestars Leathers, and Yamaha are running akrapovic exhausts now instead of Termignoni. And added to the fact that Fiat have pulled sponsorship, seems there has been quite a shake up since Valentino left....
 
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