YAMAHA World Racing News

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team today completed the first test of the 2012 season at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies spent the three track days working to develop the base set up of the 1000cc YZR-M1 ahead of the second Sepang test in one month's time. The riders and engineers focused on the balance of the M1 chassis along with improving the electronics package to gain the optimum performance from the increased horsepower. New Bridgestone tyres were also assessed ahead of the upcoming race season.

Yamaha Factory riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies continued to show promising form today in the second day of the Sepang test, the first official 1000cc MotoGP test of 2012. Having spent yesterday getting back into the rhythm of riding, today was spent focusing on comparative testing in a number of areas.

The team worked to gather data to optimise the balance of the 2012 YZR-M1 chassis whilst also working to refine the power delivery of the increased engine capacity through electronics and power delivery.

MotoGP 2012 finally got underway today with the first of three days of testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Yamaha Factory riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies took their first ride on the 1000cc YZR-M1 since last year. Both riders blew the cobwebs off quickly and settled down to an impressive pace, Lorenzo proving to be the fastest man on track with his team mate always close behind him.

The focus for the first day was to get back into the swing of riding and also to establish a good base set up.

For the second year in a row Yamaha dominated the Quad category of the Dakar rally, sweeping the final podium and claiming every stage of the 9000km trek through Argentina, Chile and Peru.

Alejandro Patronelli defended his crown ahead of his brother Marcos and fellow Argentine Tomas Maffei.

Yamaha filled a place on the podium of the world's toughest and most prestigious rally for the second year in succession as Portugal's Helder Rodrigues claimed third position overall on his WR450F Rally. The 32 year old pushed through almost 9000km from Buenos Aires in Argentina to Lima in Peru via Chile in fourteen days and thirteen stages of the 33rd edition of the Dakar.

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo kicked off 2012 yesterday with a visit to New Delhi. The MotoGP star was in India for a personal appearance at the Auto Expo to meet both racing fans and the national Indian media. Lorenzo also took time in the afternoon to visit the impressive Budh International circuit, a potential newcomer to the MotoGP calendar in the not too distant future.

The 33rd Dakar rally is firmly on the return leg as the riders and drivers of this historic and prestigious competition will soon dip into Peru for the first time since the rally shifted continents and head onwards through almost 4000km to reach the finish line in Lima.

Wayne Rainey will forever be remembered as one of Yamaha's greatest stars in an era of the FIM World Championship Grand Prix where talent, technology and speed combined to create some of the most captivating seasons of racing seen in the sport. As a three time 500cc world champion between 1990 and 1992 Rainey's mastery of steering the ferocious two-stroke machines and his unrelenting determination to always be the best mark him as one of the principal figures of a phase in which names like Lawson, Doohan, Gardner, Schwantz, Kocinski and Mamola entertained millions worldwide.

The months and weeks of preparation for some of the bravest off-road riders in the world will shortly come to a head when the 34th Dakar Rally sets off from Buenos Aires for the 9000km two week race, regularly dubbed as one of the toughest in the world. Yamaha will count on a fine representation of 40 riders from the 188 entrants of the motorcycle class and over half of the 32-strong Quad category once the clock starts on New Years day.

Yamaha have been fortunate to see some of the greatest and most talented road racers in the history of the sport throw their legs over the formidable machinery from Iwata and none more so than 'Steady' Eddie Lawson, who claimed a total of three 500cc World Championships with Yamaha and helped evolve Yamaha's two-stroke technology during the 1980s.

Monster Energy Yamaha rider David Philippaerts took to the track last week for the first time in four months. The 2008 FIM MX1 World Champion completed his first training outing after suffering breaks to both wrists in an accident while practicing for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic in the first week of August. The soon-to-be 28 year old has been following a comprehensive and carefully planned rehab and recovery process and was relieved and excited to see that the first ride near his home in Borgosesia went extremely well.

This Venezuelan was one of the colourful characters in the Grand Prix paddock during the early 1980s at a time when the sport was maturing but retained a sense of fun thanks to the antics and attitudes of men like Lavado, Sheene, Nieto and Lucchinelli. It was the 350cc world championship win by another Yamaha star, Johnny Cecotto, - the first Venezuelan triumphant in Grand Prix - that spurred Lavado in his road racing ambitions. The young man from Caracas made an instant impression on his debut at the highest level as he took a TZ250 to 2nd place at his home Grand Prix in 1978.

Yamaha's Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/yamaharacingcom reached the 100,000 'likes' mark three weeks ago and continues to build an avid following. The collection of fans and online users of the site has increased thanks to its diverse coverage of racing classes, news, competitions, photos and videos, charity auctions of racing collectables and updates connected with the 'tuning forks' emblem found on motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles hitting the tracks and trails around the globe.

An exciting season finale in Doha, Qatar saw the Yamaha Racing France GMT 94 Ipone team with riders David Checa, Kenny Foray and Matthieu Lagrive power their YZF-R1 to the finish line and snatch their first victory of the year and as a consequence earn the third place overall in the 2011 Qtel FIM Endurance World Championship.

Notable achievements on circuits around the world have led to creation of a formidable set of 2012 YEC Racing Parts for Yamaha YZF-R1 and R6 motorcycles that are now available to order in Europe through the first of three distribution windows; the first deadline being November 30th for delivery by March 2012.

Yamaha will see out the remaining weeks of a memorable 50th year of Grand Prix racing with a comprehensive display of their achievements and history on the track for British and French audiences.

Visitors to the Motorcycle Live Show in Birmingham and the Motorcycle, Scooter, Quad Show (Le Salon de la Moto) in Paris will be able to roll back the years and memories with the presence of the Yamaha Anniversary Expo; in the UK from November 19th-27th and in France from November 30th-December 4th.

Notable achievements on circuits around the world have led to creation of a formidable set of 2012 YEC Racing Parts for Yamaha YZF-R1 and R6 motorcycles that are now available to order in Europe through the first of three distribution windows; the first deadline being November 30th for delivery by March 2012.

Yamaha Factory Racing has now completed the second of the two days of the official Valencia MotoGP test. Rider Ben Spies spent the sessions working through two differing engine specifications and a number of frame and geometry settings on the 2012 1000cc YZR-M1. The data will now go back to Japan with the Yamaha engineers who will work on the next stage of development ahead of the first 2012 test in Malaysia at the end of January. Despite missing the valuable input of team mate Jorge Lorenzo, all the required testing was completed within the two days.

A Yamaha YZ450F was wheeled onto the top step of the prestigious Paris Bercy SX podium on Sunday evening as American Kyle Chisholm grabbed rostrum results across all three nights at the capacity Palais Omnisports stadium in the French capital. Only a few days beforehand multi AMA Champion James Stewart confirmed his signature with the powerful JGR racing team to steer YZ450F technology in the 2012 AMA Supercross and Motocross series for what will be his fourth year in 'blue'.