2019 Yamaha MotoGP Team And YZR-M1 First Look

With the start of the 2019 MotoGP season right around the corner, the Yamaha factory MotoGP squad showed off its two-rider/machine lineup during a launch event in Jakarta, Indonesia.

This year the team features new direct sponsorship by Monster Energy, an american energy beverage company that also personally sponsors nine-time GP champ Valentino Rossi.

“The start of this new era for Monster Energy and Yamaha’s global racing program marks an exciting moment for us both,” said Mitch Covington, vice president of sports marketing, Monster Energy. “In MotoGP we now build on the six-year partnership we have forged with Yamaha Factory Racing and the 10 years we have been racing with Valentino.”

This year also marks Rossi’s 14th season with the tuning fork brand since first joining it in 2004 (the season where he famously kissed his then-new YZR-M1 after winning the world championship that year).

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“This event signals that the start of the preseason is close,” an excited Rossi said. “I‘ve taken a bit of time to relax and train these last couple of months, but, like the fans, I‘ve mostly been looking forward to starting the new season.

“The upcoming test in Sepang is very important,” he adds. “Because it‘s the first opportunity for the team to get together to try everything Yamaha has been working on over the winter.”

Maverick Viñales returns to the factory Yamaha team for the third season, sporting a new No. 12 race number (his previous number was 25).

“There are many changes compared to last year,” Viñales admitted. “The most noticeable, of course, are the new team colors and bike livery. As soon as I saw it, I couldn’t help but feel excited to start the new season. It will be a completely fresh start for all of us: new title sponsor, new team colors, and, for me, a new rider number.

“We ended last year’s season stronger than we started,” he continued, “so it will be important to keep that momentum going as we prepare for the first race in Qatar in April.”

Rossi and Viñales will immediately join team director Massimo Meregalli at the Sepang racing circuit for the first official three-day preseason test for 2019 later this week.