Yamaha Racing presents the teams and riders for the 2017 season

The presentation we attended took place in headquarters of the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team in Gerno di Lesmo, near Milan, with the presence of all 15 official teams together with the 41 drivers who will compete in the different categories for the 2017 season.

For the third year in a row the event was moderated by the famous MotoGP championship commentator Gavin Emmett , in the role of a very nice and warm speaker who was able to involve the world press with his jokes and his charisma. After a short introduction, he took the stage Eric DeSeynes,  Chief Operating Officer, which illustrated the surprising growth achieved by Yamaha in the racing sector: starting from 6 official teams present in 2014, passing through 9 in 2015 and 13 in 2016. For this year the house of the three tuning forks will be able to boast 16 teams , including the famous MotoGP team.

De Seynes was keen to clarify how Yamaha's efforts and commitments are aimed not only at the MotoGP championship but at all the categories in which it is involved, transmitting a unique strength and ability in managing to generate excellent performances and results, driven by common goal of success. He also explained the meaning of the slogan used by Yamaha Racing – “Rev your heart” – underlining the determination with which we are trying to create a great sentimental and emotional bond that unites the entire Motorsport sector, emphasizing values ​​such as brand loyalty and passion for motorbikes, in addition to that for competition.

The first to present themselves were the offroad and enduro teams, introduced by Alexandre Kowalski , manager for the offroad and rally categories, illustrating the results and events that characterized the recently concluded Dakar. Afterwards he went on stage Eric Eggens, MX Racing Manager introducing and presenting the MXGP, MX2, EMX and WMX teams, leaving the famous motocross championship riders for last February e Van Horebeek supported by Michael Rinaldi. As Eggens reiterated several times during the event, the objective remains victory, and we will fight to the limit to achieve it.

After a short break, he made his appearance on stage Andrea Dosoli, Road Racing Project Manager, anticipating the great expectations that the racing department places on all the young and talented drivers destined for track competitions. Those present in the room were shown the Yamaha's return to the Supersport 600 class , new YZF-R6, ready to be competitive from the start, and then of course the activities in the junior support class with the YZF-R3. Six young bLU cRU riders will compete in 2017 in the R3 bLU cRU Challenge as part of the new FIM Supersport 300 World Championship. The young hopes were introduced before giving way to the more experienced teams.

Next to present their 2017 race livery was the Pata Yamaha Official Team WorldSBK with the British pilot alex lowes, still at Yamaha for his second year, and his teammate, the novelty of this season, the Dutch Michael van der Mark. The pair have already had positive pre-season testing alongside the WorldSSP600 Team and are looking forward to heading to Australia for the first round of the 2017 season at the Phillip Island circuit to kick off their challenge.

Before the end of the conference, he surprisingly took the stage Lynn Jarvis, Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, thanking everyone present and anticipating the great team spirit that will emerge in the MotoGP team, thanks to the great collaboration between Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales which will certainly generate a healthier environment in the garage compared to the previous season.