Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announced plans for the Asian and ASEAN regions, including a redoubled commitment to the MotoGP World Championship series and new directions for the company’s venerable motorsports program, which is now celebrating its 60th year, during the Yamaha Motorsports Media Conference in Sepang, Malaysia.

Yamaha Motor unveiled its new team for MotoGP, the focus of its motorsports program. Riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo from Movistar Yamaha MotoGP were joined by riders from satellite team Monster Yamaha Tech3 as well as Forward Racing, which leases the YZR-M1, along with support personnel, all of whom came together to discuss their aspirations for the upcoming season.

Yamaha also announced its initiatives to encourage young riders to get involved in motorsports in the Asian and ASEAN regions, and the company’s plans to participate in the 250cc class of the Asia Road Racing Championship series.  (more…)

The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) today unveiled its programme for the upcoming 2015 Formula 1 PETRONAS Malaysia Grand Prix™ taking place from 27 to 29 March 2015. Launched by the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib, the programme aims to make the second round of the 2015 FIA Formula 1 World Championship a wholesome family affair this year. Also present were SIC Chairman Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir, PETRONAS Senior General Manager for Group Strategic Communications Liz Kamaruddin and SIC CEO Dato’ Razlan Razali.
“In conjunction with the Malaysia Year of Festival 2015, we were inspired to make the F1 Grand Prix programme one that celebrates the position of the race as an event that is firmly embedded in the public consciousness. After 17 years, we firmly believe that many Malaysians look forward to the race, even if they only watch it at home or enjoy photo opportunities during our annual F1 Grand Prix roadshow. Indeed, we are focusing on the family-theme to draw them out of the living room into the high-octane atmosphere of the circuit itself. F1 fans no longer need to choose between quality family time on a weekend and watching the race. They can now enjoy an outing with their family and friends to Sepang on race weekend itself. The earlier start time of the race at 3pm, plus the earlier end for the after-race concert combined with affordable tickets further contribute to making the event attractive for all ages,” said Tan Sri Mokhzani. (more…)

The first three days of MotoGP 2015 testing have just come to an end at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.

Essential information was drawn from the “three days” of testing for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. The new RS-GP showed good potential which now needs to be completely refined. Compared to the previous version, which was developed on a base that the Aprilia Racing Department knew very well, the changes are such to require further checks.

Romano Albesiano, Aprilia Racing Manager had this to say about the first tests at Sepang: “I can confirm what I said yesterday. The initial results are definitely positive, considering the fact that the new RS-GP is taking its first steps and that Aprilia’s return to MotoGP is a year ahead of schedule to fully develop the project during the course of the sport season. In order to grow we need to get into the mix with our rivals right away in race conditions, bearing in mind the difficulties that such a demanding new project will inevitably face.”
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The FIM Asia Road Racing Championship is set to kick off its highly anticipated 20th season as the championship promoter released its 2015 race calendar that will see six rounds take place in five countries across Asia with Japan no longer hosting two rounds.

Sticking to traditions, the opening round takes place at Sepang, Malaysia (April 16-19) followed by the Sentul Circuit in Indonesia (June 4-7) with the mid-season round hosted in Japan at the historical Suzuka Circuit (August 27-30).

The only revision to the race calendar is that the Thailand and Qatar round have been switched around in the second half of the season. FIA-grade approved Buriram Circuit that held the penultimate round in 2014 will now stage the fourth and final round from the 27 to 30 August and second to sixth December respectively.

Meanwhile the floodlit Losail Circuit in Doha, Qatar that held the grand finale for the past five seasons will now host the penultimate round (September 30 – October 3).  (more…)

The lineup is complete for the team that will take Aprilia into its rookie year in the 2015 MotoGP World Championship. Following the announcement of Alvaro Bautista earlier, joining him will be Marco Melandri who has officially been signed, fresh from the conclusion of the 2014 Superbike season. In that season with Aprilia Racing, Melandri took 6 wins and another 5 podiums that contributed significantly to Aprilia’s World Superbike (WSBK) Manufacturers’ title win.

Romano Albesiano, Aprilia Racing Director says, “With Marco Melandri the last piece of the puzzle has been put into place for Aprilia’s participation in next year’s MotoGP season. These have been very intense and exciting days where in just a few hours we went from the last round of Superbike at Losail to this new adventure in MotoGP. We are very pleased to announce Marco’s signing because this completes our team in the best way possible on the eve of a great challenge: with Melandri we now have an all-Italian bike-rider duo. We are moving into MotoGP a year ahead of schedule on wings of enthusiasm because of the double world Superbike championships we have just won. We moved our schedule up because we want the most demanding tracks and the most competitive championship in the world to gauge the quality of our work. Aprilia’s 54 world titles, the hundreds of wins on tracks all over the world give proof of technical skills and a winning attitude that deserve the limelight of the most prestigious stage.”
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2014 Yamaha YZF-R25 has been unveiled officially in Malaysia by Hong Leong Yamaha Malaysia. It is a very interesting bike and focuses on the performance which is exactly what Yamaha should do and they do deliver. It comes in two colour choices that is Diablo Red and Racing Blue (this is the normal version, NOT the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP livery).
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