YAMAHA MOTOR BECOMES OFFICIAL PARTNER AND MOTORCYCLE SUPPLIER TO THE VR46 RIDERS ACADEMY

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. has agreed a 3-year partnership agreement with Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi‘s “VR46 Riders Academy” to become an Official Partner and also its Official Motorcycle Supplier.

Gerno di Lesmo (Italy), 1st March 2016

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. has agreed a 3-year partnership agreement with Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi‘s “VR46 Riders Academy” to become an Official Partner and also its Official Motorcycle Supplier.

Yamaha will support the Academy‘s program and supply a total of 26 R-Series and YZ series motorcycles to allow the full-time Academy riders to train and develop their racing skills at the VR46 MotoRanch and also at the Misano road race circuit.

The initiative will give Academy riders their first contact with Yamaha, who will follow their performances as they progress through the early years of their racing careers. Yamaha also plans to support the Academy by contributing to their education process and giving insights into PR, promotional and team expectations as today‘s young riders hopefully evolve to be the Factory riders of the future.

With World Championship participation positioned at the top of the racing pyramid, Yamaha Motor is currently in the process of creating a step-up model and system to provide tier-based opportunities for young riders to grow.

The VR46 Riders Academy will also play a part in this system for training and instruction. Its primary role will be boosting the motivation of young riders, and promoting their acquisition of riding experience and skills to help them move up through the tiered step-up structure.

As a first step in 2016, Yamaha will select a limited number of the best young riders competing in the Asia Road Racing Championship‘s – Asia Production 250 class as well as other rider development series to train at the Academy.

Two one-week workshops are planned in 2016. The talented youngsters will have the chance to train alongside the full-time VR46 Riders Academy riders in the gym, at the MotoRanch and at the Misano circuit, riding dedicated YZF-R3 and YZ250F machines.

All riders will have the full access to the facilities of the Academy and Valentino Rossi will participate and instruct the selected candidates along with the full-time Academy staff.

LIN JARVIS

MANAGING DIRECTOR, YAMAHA MOTOR RACING

“I am extremely happy that we are able to begin this formal partnership with the VR46 Riders Academy. The Academy started as a natural development of Valentino‘s incredible passion for motorcycling and racing when he committed himself to supporting the next generation of riders to develop their talent and skills to become future World Championship racers. Yamaha share the same passion as Valentino and we are engaged around the world with numerous programs to encourage and develop young aspiring riders to follow their dreams and to improve their performances to achieve their full potential. This new program will give a unique opportunity for selected talented riders to train and learn from “the Master” and from the full-time VR46 Riders Academy riders during the 2 one-week dedicated training sessions.

“An additional but equally important aspect of the new partnership is for Yamaha to support and engage with the VR46 Riders Academy‘s full time program. Yamaha will contribute with the supply of training bikes as well as getting involved in the education of the riders. Some of these young riders will surely evolve to be the Factory riders of tomorrow. Yamaha will be watching closely as their careers develop and hopefully some of them will become our next generation Factory riders in the future.”

VALENTINO ROSSI

MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP RIDER

“The partnership between Yamaha and VR46 makes me very happy and incredibly proud. Through the Academy we have been doing very interesting things for young and talented riders and I believe we couldn‘t have found a better partner than Yamaha to provide our guys everything they need to grow up quickly and improve their performances on track. I am particularly happy because this agreement involves two things that I love and have put lots of efforts in; Yamaha and my Riders Academy. I really hope that this partnership will result in some great things.

“We have been supporting talented riders and I am confident that together we will achieve exciting results. We are planning many activities involving the Academy and its riders. Yamaha is making many of these initiatives possible and I want to thank them for this chance. I am also looking forward to meeting the riders that will attend the training session throughout 2016. I am sure they‘ll enjoy the time at the Academy and that we’ll have a lot of fun together. Maybe we‘ll find new racing talents!”