Tavullia (Italy), 22nd May 2019
Five of Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.‘s Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Challenge riders arrived in Cattolica, Italy, to take part in the seventh edition of the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp.
Yesterday, five of Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.‘s WorldSSP300 riders have travelled to Cattolica for an intense training course at the prestigious Yamaha VR46 Master Camp, established by nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, the VR46 Riders Academy, and many other experts in the racing industry.
The five selected up-and-coming Yamaha riders include The Netherlands‘ Finn de Bruin (18), Italy‘s Kevin Sabatucci (20) and Jacopo Facco (19), France‘s Andy Verdoïa (16), and Spain‘s Beatriz Neila (17), the Master Camp‘s first female participant.
After the warm welcome they received from VR46 Riders Academy Director Alessio ’Uccio‘ Salucci, the riders are raring to start training today.
The renewed training programme for the seventh Master Camp has been especially structured to help the students gain valuable skills on track (on-road and flat track) as well as provide them with tips on how to train off track.
The timetable for May 22nd – 26th includes gym sessions and various riding activities with experts such as fitness guru Carlo Casabianca at the Fisio gym and three-time English Flat Track Champion and two-time American and European Flat Track Champion Marco Belli.
Along with the VR46 Academy Riders, the instructors attending the riding sessions will monitor the Master Camp students‘ progress and help them further boost their performances. The students can put their new found skills into practice when they will continue their run in the 2019 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship (WorldSSP300) and Yamaha Motor Europe’s Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Challenge from August 7th – 9th at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto for the Acerbis Spanish Round.
VR46 Riders Academy’s Salucci commented:
“We‘re now all in Cattolica, so we can begin the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp training. We have seen what the riders are capable of in their WorldSSP300 races, so we have quite high expectations for what we will be able to achieve during this week‘s programme. Both the VR46 Academy riders and the programme‘s professional racing and training experts are excited to meet these five young talents. We‘ve seen previous students make big steps, so that‘s a big boost in motivation to also help these five Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Challenge riders make another step. It will be a very busy schedule, but it will also be a lot of fun. I hope we will be lucky in terms of the weather, so we can complete all the activities without any interruptions. Either way, I‘m sure that the Master Camp and the VR46 Academy riders will get along great and will support and push each other to reach higher levels.”
News, images, videos and updates from the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp will be posted regularly on its dedicated media channels throughout the seventh edition:
BEATRIZ NEILA
“This is an amazing opportunity, I hope I can learn a lot from the World Championship riders that I will meet this week. I hope I can make the most of this chance. I think I will enjoy the training a lot. I’m very happy to be here, being able to take in all these new experiences. I’m very thankful to Yamaha and VR46, especially because they are treating us as professional riders.”
ANDY VERDOÏA
“To have a full week of training with such strong riders as the VR46 Academy is a great experience for me and an opportunity to learn a lot in just a short amount of time. I’m sure that the training that I will receive will help me in the championship. The Master Camp, put on by Yamaha and VR46, is a great help to us, young riders, allowing us to realise our dreams. I’m very thankful to Yamaha for this opportunity and I’m going to do my best to make the most of it in order to be more fit for my next race and obtain great results.”
JACOPO FACCO
“I’m very thankful to Yamaha and the bLU cRU project for this unique opportunity of training with more experienced riders. I hope that I can make the best of this experience over the remainder of the season. This is a crucial training as it includes MiniGP, flat track, road racing, and even wave runner activities, which I’ve never done. Everything is going to be quite challenging, but also fun.”
KEVIN SABATUCCI
“The Yamaha VR46 Master Camp is a great opportunity for me to improve my skills, learn about all the necessities to become a great rider, and learn from the best riders in the World Championship, like Valentino Rossi, Francesco Bagnaia, and Franco Morbidelli, so this is a great chance. I want to thank Yamaha, the Master Camp and VR46 staff, and the bLU cRU project. I consider myself lucky to be given this opportunity.”
FINN DE BRUIN
“The introduction day was really nice for me, actually for all of us. We had our medical check and we are all declared fit to ride, so that was good to hear. We also completed a photo shoot. At the moment, I’m still not entirely sure what I can expect, but I’ve heard from other people that it will be a lot of fun. I think it will be a very beneficial and educational experience. We’ll be keeping busy, learning lots in various racing diciplines such as flat track, MiniGP, minicross, and riding with the YZF-R3. We’ll be gaining a lot of experience, which we can put to good use in the future.”
NOTES
In an effort to support young Italian riders aiming to become world-class racers, Valentino Rossi decided to put his vast experience and knowledge from his many years of racing to good use in 2014 and established the VR46 Riders Academy.
In March 2016, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. entered into a formal three-year partnership agreement with the VR46 Riders Academy as an Official Partner and also as its Official Motorcycle Supplier (at the end of 2018 the partnership was renewed for three further years).
In July of 2016, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. and the VR46 Riders Academy staged the inaugural Yamaha VR46 Master Camp with the goal of helping selected young Yamaha talent make their way in the racing world by increasing their skills and experience in various racing disciplines, riding Yamaha YZ85, YZ125, YZ250F, and YZF-R3 bikes.
Since then the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp has put on six subsequent training events. The participants so far have been 32 mostly teenage riders who race in various championships on bikes like the YZF-R25 and YZF-R3, and hail from 13 countries in all: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States.
Keminth Kubo, who took part in the fifth edition of the programme is currently participating in the CEV Repsol Moto2 Championship as a VR46 Master Camp rider.
In addition, Italian rider Alfonso Coppola has made the step up to the World Supersport Championship. With examples like these, it is clear Yamaha’s system of advancing young promising riders is seeing results.
The current sixth WorldSSP300 bLU cRU rider is none other than returning Indonesian, Galang Hendra Pratama (19), who took part in the first and second edition of the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp programme. He went on to cause a sensation when he took the WorldSSP300 victory in Jerez in 2017 as a wild card rider. The epic win earned him a full-season ride for 2018 and 2019.
The riders for the seventh edition of the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp were selected by Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. A place in the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp can’t be bought, nor can riders apply for a placement – riders are to be put forward by Yamaha distributors.