2011 sees the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of Yamaha Racing in World Championship Grand Prix Racing. The team have already run with a special logo on the fuel tank and it is also on the teams overalls, but as part of the celebratory year the team will run with a special red and white livery, the 'YZR-M1 WGP50th Anniversary Edition' at the Assen and Laguna Seca rounds of the MotoGP championship.
The livery will be fully unveiled by Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies at an event before the Assen Grand Prix on 22nd of June and is an homage to the iconic Yamaha Factory Racing liveries of the past, but with a modern twist. The red and white livery will also appear on all Yamaha staff and team crew as well as the Yamaha Factory Racing team's pit box.
“I love these colours, they really have a historic significance.” said Lorenzo. “Read, Agostini, they all ran similar colour schemes when they won so the opportunity to use it on the YZR-M1 is really nice. It's a very special year for Yamaha and we hope that these colours will give us luck in these two races.”
Ben Spies added, I'm really excited about running with these colours. It's a big year for Yamaha and my first with the Factory Team. To be able to run a special livery like that in Assen and also for my home race at Laguna is awesome. I think it's going to look really good and I'm looking forward to everyone being able to see it.”
Fans will also be able to visit a dedicated section of the Yamaha website which celebrates the anniversary with an archive of Yamaha's involvement with racing along with detailed historical information. The site will be regularly updated with columns and videos along with exclusive messages and interviews with key people involved in the racing story of Yamaha.
