A star-studded rider line up will be on hand at the 25th Goodwood Festival of Speed from Thursday the 12th to Sunday the 15th of July to help showcase the past, present, and the future of the Yamaha Motor Corporation and also to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the iconic Yamaha YZF-R1 superbike. Michael van der Mark, Alex Lowes, Noriyuki Haga, Josh Brookes, Tarran Mackenzie and Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. President Mr. Eric de Seynes will be heading up the Goodwood hill on a collection of Yamaha machinery from across years. Yamaha machines in action will include an original 1998 YZF-R1, the current WorldSBK R1, the Yamaha Factory Racing Team 2018 Suzuka R1, a 2018 YZF-R1M, and the revolutionary new Niken three-wheeler. Providing the wow factor in a static display will be Yamaha’s future technology vision, the incredible MotoBot. The YZF-R1 riding robot will sit alongside space age technology for the event.
Fresh from securing their maiden WorldSBK victories at Donington and Brno respectively, Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team’s Michael van der Mark & Alex Lowes will take on the hill climb at Goodwood on a WorldSBK-spec R1 and also the Yamaha Factory Racing Team Suzuka 8 Hours-spec YZF-R1 on which they are aiming to win the legendary endurance for the fourth time in a row this summer with teammate Katsuyuki Nakasuga. The WorldSBK YZF-R1 will be ridden by van der Mark and will feature a special one-off livery he used this year at his home round in Assen on his way to a stunning double podium. Lowes will charge up the hill on the Suzuka YZF-R1 that he and his teammates will race in Japan on Sunday 29th of July with a special livery to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Yamaha YZF-R1 as the team aim to make history.
Also taking to the Goodwood track will be McAMS Yamaha’s Josh Brookes & Tarran Mackenzie from the British Superbike Championship. Brookes has had an illustrious career and has ridden in WorldSBK, WorldSSP, the Endurance World Championship, and the Isle of Man TT. The Australian lifted the 2015 British Superbike Champion onboard an R1 and is once again battling it out for the title in 2018 on a Yamaha alongside his talented young teammate Mackenzie. Both riders will take to the Goodwood hill on machines that represent the pinnacle of road-going technology, a 2018 YZF-R1M and the simply stunning three-wheeled Niken.
Yamaha Legend ‘Nitro Nori’ – aka ‘The Samurai of Slide’ – Noriyuki Haga, who is still currently racing in the Italian CIV Supersport 600 Championship onboard a Yamaha YZF-R6, will also get a chance to charge up the Goodwood hill. Haga – who raced for Yamaha in the 500cc World Championship, MotoGP, WorldSBK and the Japanese Superbike Championship – joined the Yamaha WorldSBK Team full time in 1998, so it is fitting on the 20th anniversary of the YZF-R1 that he will ride the mould-breaking original machine up the hill that launched in the same year.
Yamaha’s famous autonomous motorcycle-riding humanoid robot, MotoBot, will be one of the star attractions in the ‘Future Lab’ Pavilion, where manufacturers at Goodwood get to showcase the future of motorsport technology. The theme this year is on autonomous transport and robotics and with MotoBot designed with the aim to take on Yamaha legend and nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi at his own game.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed – held in the parkland surround Goodwood House – is a motorsports enthusiasts dream, with a variety of two and four-wheeled machines taking on the famous hill climb, special displays, entertainment zones and much over spread over the four days. The 2018 event is the 25th anniversary of the first Festival of Speed held in 1993 and starts on Thursday the 12th of July and runs through until Sunday the 15th of July and sees thousands of fans getting together in the idyllic English countryside to celebrate all things racing.
Eric de Seynes
Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. President
“We are delighted to be able to showcase the past, present, and future of Yamaha Motor Corporation at the 25th anniversary of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It is a superb event that brings together motorsport fans across all disciplines and it gives us an excellent chance to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the iconic Yamaha YZF-R1 superbike, plus highlight some of our revolutionary new machines like the three-wheeled Niken and the pinnacle of race technology, the YZF-R1M. We will also have MotoBot there, which is a real glimpse into the future. We will also have Michael van der Mark, Alex Lowes, Josh Brookes, Tarran Mackenzie and Noriyuki Haga – plus a few more famous faces – taking on the Goodwood hill climb on a variety of different Yamaha machines!”