YAMAHA FACTORY RACING CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY The Yamaha Factory Racing Team and its riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will contest this weekend’s US Grand Prix in Laguna Seca in a special yellow, white and black livery to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Yamaha Motor Company. The yellow, white and black livery which will be worn by the riders and team throughout the coming weekend, was originally used by Yamaha’s US racers in the 1970’s, most notably triple-World Champion Kenny Roberts. The colour change celebrates Yamaha’s racing history and particular success in the USA with American riders Roberts, Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey having won nine premier-class World Championships between them. “I am really happy to be racing in yellow, white and black here in the US, especially since yellow is my favourite colour!” said current World Championship series-leader Rossi, who this weekend races at Laguna Seca for the first time in his career. “It’s great to be recreating the livery of Yamaha US and Kenny Roberts, one of the most famous and recognisable racing liveries of all time. I am proud to be racing together with Yamaha at its 50th Anniversary, especially at this race, which everyone has been looking forward to for such a long time. Our special bikes will help to make the MotoGP ‘show’ even more of a spectacle for the American public!” Colin Edwards has the honour of being the first American Grand Prix rider in 25 years to carry the yellow, white and black livery. “It’s awesome!” exclaimed the Texan, facing his first race on American soil since he left the World Superbike Championship three years ago. “My home race is already such a big thing for me, but this makes it even more special and I’m really excited to be a part of something like this. I really like the livery and the bikes look great. It’s a great honour to be an American riding for Yamaha when there’s such a heritage with the brand and the American greats like Kenny, Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson. I really hope we can make this a great 50th Anniversary celebration with the right result on Sunday!” Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director Davide Brivio commented, “It’s very exciting to be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Yamaha here together in the US, and it’s really nice that Yamaha has been able to bring back this yellow, white and black livery that is such an important part of its racing history. The Team is proud to be here in this historic moment, and to have been chosen to be the ones to celebrate here in Laguna in this special way. Of course we will focus on the race and hope that we will be able to celebrate properly with an unforgettable race result on Sunday!” MESSAGE ON THE OCCASION OF THE AMERICAN MotoGP RACE By Takashi Kajikawa – President, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. “On July 1, 2005, Yamaha Motor Company celebrated the 50th Anniversary of our company’s founding. We have been able to reach this major milestone thanks to a proud tradition of the Yamaha “Spirit of Challenge” that began with our founding president, Genichi Kawakami in 1955, and has been handed down through the generations of Yamaha employees, and also thanks to the great efforts of our importers and dealers around the world, and finally thanks to the support we have always received from our customers. On behalf of Yamaha Motor, I wish to express our deep gratitude to all these people. Throughout our company’s 50-year history, racing has always been an arena for us to nurture the spirit of challenge and refine our technology. At the same time, it has been a very important way for us to realize our corporate mission of creating “Kando,” which is the Japanese word for feelings of excitement and deep satisfaction. And today, we are more aware than ever of the importance of winning races, because of the tremendous inspiration and motivation it brings to our customers and our business partners around the world. Looking back, the first overseas race Yamaha Motor ever participated in was the Catalina Grand Prix in the U.S. of 1958. Later, Yamaha would bring AMA star Kenny Roberts to the GP500 class of the World Championships and create a sensation, when he went on to win three consecutive world titles. Now I am very happy to see the pinnacle competition of world motorcycle road racing return to the U.S. for the first time in 11 years. In this race, Yamaha will be represented by our Factory Team’s Valentino Rossi, who is presently on a five race consecutive winning streak on the YZR-M1, America’s own Colin Edwards as well as the Fortuna Yamaha Team riders Tony Elias and Ruben Xaus. For this race the machines of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will be sporting the nostalgic Yamaha U.S. racing colours from the 1970s. Also, we are happy to hold events that will welcome 19 great Yamaha road race and motocross riders of the past and present including Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson and Giacomo Agostini. At the American GP venue this time, we hope that all the members of the media and the fans will have an opportunity to experience first-hand the excitement of another Yamaha racing legend unfolding. Yamaha Motor Company is dedicated to the promotion of racing as a form of “Kando” that can be shared not only within the Yamaha family but also with our customers and fans everywhere. That is why we actively pursue race programmes at all levels, from MotoGP to local races in all parts of the world, and not only for motorcycles but in a wide range of categories, from snowmobiles and ATVs to racing karts. We ask for your continued support for us in these activities.” YAMAHA CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH SPECIAL MotoGP LIVERY Yamaha’s Factory MotoGP team goes to this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in celebratory mood, wearing the famous Yamaha USA colours of yellow, white and black. This special livery marks Yamaha’s 50th Anniversary and acknowledges the significant contribution made by American riders to the marque’s racing history. The Yamaha Motor Company was founded on July 1st 1955, just two weeks before the factory’s first bike, the YA1, won its first race, the Mount Fuji Ascent race. Since then three American riders have won nine premier-class World Championships with Yamaha ‘King’ Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey, each taking three crowns across three decades, the 70s, the 80s and the 90s. The livery that Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1 riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will wear at Laguna Seca was first used by Yamaha USA in the late 1960s and won global renown when Roberts scored his World Championship hat-trick. Masao Furusawa, Senior General Manager of Yamaha’s Engineering Operations, finds that this is a perfect time for the company to celebrate its first half-century. “This is a moment of which we can be proud,” he said. “We will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary at Laguna as the reigning World Champions, while our factory MotoGP team leads the riders’, manufacturers’ and teams’ World Championships, so it’s great that we can celebrate in style.” Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, explains the thinking behind the yellow, white and black colour scheme of the YZR-M1 50th Anniversary US Edition. “We chose to race in Yamaha USA’s historic colours as a tribute to the American riders who have played such an important part in Yamaha’s history,” he says. “It is also right that we should celebrate the return of Grand Prix racing to the USA, which is great for the American fans and also very important for the future of MotoGP. “Of course, this isn’t the first time that our YZR-M1 has carried the yellow, white and black colours. Some of you may have noticed the seat graphics on Valentino’s M1, which since last year have featured his dog Guido wearing an old-school Yamaha USA T-shirt! It will be fantastic to see Valentino racing in yellow, which is his favourite colour. And this is also a big weekend for Colin, his first US Grand Prix, plus he is the first American GP rider in 25 years to race in Yamaha USA’s traditional colours. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our 2005 title sponsor Altadis for their cooperation in permitting Yamaha to race in Yamaha-only livery for this special event.” Rossi’s and Edwards’ one-off livery is only one aspect of a busy weekend of 50th Anniversary celebrations during the US GP. The fun starts with a Friday night party for media and VIP guests at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.