Before I paste the press release into this post, I’ll include its Notes section, which has some interesting facts:

Notes About Yamaha Factory Racing

Yamaha Factory Racing is Yamaha’s wholly-owned full-Factory Team in MotoGP. The team was founded in 1999 following the retirement of Wayne Rainey, who had run a Factory-supported team in the 500cc class for the previous two years. A new company – Yamaha Motor Racing – was set up in the Netherlands to manage all but the technical side of Yamaha’s international racing activities and to run the team.

In 2005 Yamaha Motor Racing as a company completed the move from the Netherlands in order to create a single Yamaha MotoGP European operation in Italy, strengthening and centralising the management of the team and all MotoGP operations. Although responsibility for the technical aspects of MotoGP remains predominantly at Yamaha’s MotoGP Group in Japan, a number of Japanese engineering staff complete the European MotoGP setup.

The team is based in Gerno di Lesmo (Italy), close to Monza, as are the logistics and the engine management sectors. This facility was re-built during 2008 and a new, state-of-the-art facility was opened giving the team a superb new headquarters with all technical, logistical, managerial and communications departments under one roof.

Masahiko Nakajima is President of Yamaha Motor Racing Srl and Lin Jarvis is Managing Director. The experienced Italian former rider Massimo Meregalli stepped over from managing the Yamaha World Superbike Team to become the Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director at the beginning of 2011.

Press Release

Madrid (Spain), 28th January 2015

The long winter wait endured by racing fans the world over is coming to an end as the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team gather in Madrid to officially launch their 2015 campaign in the quest for title victory. A winter of development by Yamaha engineers and exhaustive training by the riders sees a formidable team gathered and ready to prove themselves against the best in the world.

The 2015 season will be the second year of partnership between the Yamaha Factory Team and Spanish company Telefónica. The five-year collaboration started in 2014 looks set to grow from strength to strength, making Telefónica’s headquarters in Madrid the perfect venue to unveil the 2015 livery.

The formidable duo of Italian Valentino Rossi and Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo remain unchanged as the rider line up for the team. Nine-time world champion Rossi delighted the racing world in 2014 with an impressive season, returning to form as a key protagonist. ‘The Doctor’ increased the pressure round after round to finish the season in a well deserved second position. Four-time world champion Lorenzo had a tougher start to the season but went on to find his rhythm, keeping his teammate firmly in his sights in the podium battles that marked the climax to the year and earning him third in the final standings. 2015 sees them both heading to Sepang for the first test of the year in top form, both physically and mentally, and as very real title contenders.

The 2015 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team line up is unveiled for the first time at the Distrito Telefónica in Madrid, the headquarters that is normally home to a workforce of 14,000 employees.

Presenting the team were MotoGP superstars Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, alongside the president of Telefónica España, Luis Miguel Gilpérez. They were joined by the General Manager of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd’s Motorsport Division, Kouichi Tsuji, the Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing Srl, Lin Jarvis, and Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Team Director, Massimo Meregalli.

The ceremony saw the 2015 Yamaha YZR-M1 revealed in its new colours with a revised and resized Movistar logo and a refreshed livery. Also presented were the Team’s new partners: Abarth, the FCA Group’s prestigious, sports oriented, brand that joins Yamaha on a two-year partnership, and Cromax, the global coatings brand for refinish body-shops. Abarth and Cromax were not the only new faces as Japanese technical clothing manufacturer Descente joins as the clothing provider for the team.

In addition to the new partners, Yamaha is pleased to confirm continuation of its numerous other Sponsors including:

JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation (ENEOS)
Monster Energy Corporation
Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturer (Semakin Di Depan)
Eurasian Bank
Yamalube
Akrapovič
TW Steel
Alpinestars
Racing Boy
Exedy
Magneti Marelli
D.I.D.
NGK
BMC Air Filters
2D
Beta Tools
Yamaha Corporation (Yamaha Music)
Bridgestone

The team now travels to Malaysia where the season will officially kick off with the first test at Sepang on 4th, 5th and 6th February. This will be the first opportunity for the riders to shake-down the 2015 YZR-M1 before the beginning of the championship in Qatar on 29th March.

Photographs: ©2015 Yamaha Motor Racing Srl except as noted

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