Yamaha MotoGP team

The Yamaha MotoGP Team is the factory team of the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha in the MotoGP class of the motorcycle world championship . The team is named after its current main sponsor Movistar , a brand of the largest mobile operator in Spain, Telefónica .

Yamaha has been a manufacturer in the FIM World Championship since 1961 , but the team has only been at the start in its current form since 1999 .

Since joining in 1999, the team has won four rider world championships with Valentino Rossi ( 2004 , 2005 , 2008 , 2009 ) and three times with Jorge Lorenzo ( 2010 , 2012 , 2015 ) in the MotoGP class of the motorcycle world championship. In 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2016 you could also win the team ranking.

history

Beginnings in the 500 cm³ class

Yamaha YZR500 by Max Biaggi 2001

The team was formed after the retirement of former multiple world champion in the 500cc class, Wayne Rainey , who led a factory-supported team in the same class. The team's headquarters were originally in the Netherlands , but moved to Lesmo , Italy in 2002 . From 1999 to 2001, under the name Marlboro Yamaha Team , the team competed with the Yamaha YZR500 in the 500 cm³ class. The driver pairing of these years formed the Italian Max Biaggi and the Spaniard Carlos Checa , Biaggi was able to achieve a total of six race victories and the 2001 runner-up world championship .

MotoGP class from 2002

In 2002 the 500 cc class was replaced by the MotoGP class, and a new motorcycle, the Yamaha YZR-M1 , was developed for this purpose . The drivers were still Checa and Biaggi, the latter again secured the runner-up title behind his compatriot and greatest competitor, Valentino Rossi .

In 2003 Biaggi left the team and was replaced with Marco Melandri . The team had their worst season so far without a win or podium. At the end of the season there were rumors that Yamaha was interested in the then world champion of the class, Valentino Rossi of Repsol Honda. The rumor eventually proved correct and Rossi signed a two-year deal.

Rossi's Yamaha YZR-M1 in 2004

In 2004, Yamaha and Valentino Rossi became world champions in the premier class for the first time since the MotoGP class was founded in 2002. With nine wins this season, Rossi was able to secure the title ahead of Spaniard Sete Gibernau . In 2005 Rossi got a new teammate in Colin Edwards , the Superbike World Champion of 2000 and 2002 . This could not be dangerous to him and Rossi defended the title again.

Rossi's Yamaha YZR-M1 in 2006 with Camel as the main sponsor

In 2006, Yamaha failed with Rossi and their main sponsor at the time, Camel, when they tried to defend their title against Nicky Hayden from Repsol Honda . In 2007 one could not regain the title due to the superiority of Ducati and the eventual world champion Casey Stoner .

For the 2008 season, the automobile manufacturer Fiat became the team's main sponsor and the two-time reigning 250 cc world champion, the Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo , teammate of Rossi. Nevertheless, Rossi was able to secure the title with nine wins of the season. Lorenzo also won the first MotoGP race of his career in Estoril, Portugal .

In 2009, Lorenzo became Rossi's greatest competitor and the two teammates fought for the title all season. The rivalry peaked at the Catalonia Grand Prix when Rossi clinched the final lap after a tough battle with Lorenzo. At the end of the season, Rossi was 45 points ahead of Lorenzo for the last time world champion.

2010s

Rossi ahead of Lorenzo at the 2010 French Grand Prix

In 2010 Lorenzo and Rossi fought again for the world title, but since the latter had a bad crash at the Mugello Grand Prix and had to sit out several races, Lorenzo crowned himself for the first time in his career, with a record number of 383 points and a total of nine wins this season. to the world champion of the premier class. At the end of the season Rossi left the team for Ducati after seven years.

In 2011 and 2012, the team had no main sponsor, which is why it was only called Yamaha Factory Racing . During this time, the team had various special paints. For the 2011 season, Ben Spies , who was able to convince in Yamaha's main customer team, Tech 3 , was signed to replace Rossi. At the end of the season Lorenzo and Spies finished second and fifth respectively in the overall standings. In 2012 the same pairing started, Lorenzo was able to secure the world title again in the end.

In 2013 Spies was fired due to insufficient performance and Valentino Rossi became Lorenzo's teammate again. This pairing lasted from 2014 to 2016, with Lorenzo becoming world champion in 2015 ahead of his teammate.

At the beginning of the 2016 season it was announced that Lorenzo, like Rossi at the time, would be leaving the team for Ducati. For this reason, Maverick Viñales was signed by the Suzuki factory team as a replacement.

statistics

(As of: Spanish Grand Prix 2020)

season	class	Team name	motorcycle	Start number	driver	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Round	Points	World Cup place
1999	500 cc	Marlboro Yamaha Team	Yamaha YZR500	2	Max Biaggi	16	1	5	1	1	1	194	4th
				4th	Carlos Checa	16	-	1	-	-	-	125	7th
2000	500 cc	Marlboro Yamaha Team	Yamaha YZR500	4th	Max Biaggi	16	2	-	2	5	3	170	3.
				7th	Carlos Checa	16	-	4th	-	-	-	155	6th
2001	500 cc	Marlboro Yamaha Team	Yamaha YZR500	3	Max Biaggi	16	3	3	3	7th	2	219	2.
				7th	Carlos Checa	15th	-	3	-	-	-	137	6th
2002	MotoGP	Marlboro Yamaha Team	Yamaha YZR-M1	3	Max Biaggi	16	2	4th	2	4th	1	215	2.
				7th	Carlos Checa	16	-	1	3	1	1	141	5.
2003	MotoGP	Fortuna Yamaha team	Yamaha YZR-M1	7th	Carlos Checa	16	-	-	-	-	-	123	7th
				17th	Norifumi Abe	3	-	-	-	-	-	31	16.
				33	Marco Melandri	13	-	-	-	-	-	45	15th
2004	MotoGP	Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha	Yamaha YZR-M1	7th	Carlos Checa	16	-	1	-	1	-	117	7th
				46	Valentino Rossi	16	9	2	-	5	3	304	World Champion
2005	MotoGP	Gauloises Yamaha Team / Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha YZR-M1	5	Colin Edwards	17th	-	1	2	-	1	179	4th
				46	Valentino Rossi	17th	11	3	2	5	6th	125	World Champion
2006	MotoGP	Camel Yamaha team	Yamaha YZR-M1	5	Colin Edwards	17th	-	-	1	-	-	124	7th
				46	Valentino Rossi	17th	5	4th	1	5	4th	247	2.
2007	MotoGP	Fiat Yamaha team	Yamaha YZR-M1	5	Colin Edwards	18th	-	1	1	2	-	124	9.
				46	Valentino Rossi	18th	4th	3	1	4th	3	241	3.
2008	MotoGP	Fiat Yamaha team	Yamaha YZR-M1	46	Valentino Rossi	18th	9	5	2	2	5	373	World Champion
				48	Jorge Lorenzo	17th	1	3	2	4th	1	190	4th
2009	MotoGP	Fiat Yamaha team	Yamaha YZR-M1	46	Valentino Rossi	17th	6th	5	2	7th	6th	306	World Champion
				99	Jorge Lorenzo	17th	4th	5	3	5	4th	261	2.
2010	MotoGP	Fiat Yamaha team	Yamaha YZR-M1	8th	Wataru Yoshikawa	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	22nd
				46	Valentino Rossi	14th	2	2	6th	1	2	233	3.
				99	Jorge Lorenzo	18th	9	4th	2	7th	4th	383	World Champion
2011	MotoGP	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha YZR-M1	1	Jorge Lorenzo	15th	3	6th	1	2	2	260	2.
				11	Ben Spies	16	1	2	3	-	1	176	5.
				89	Katsuyuki Nakasuga	1	-	-	-	-	-	10	18th
2012	MotoGP	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha YZR-M1	11	Ben Spies	16	-	-	-	-	-	88	10.
				21st	Katsuyuki Nakasuga	2	-	1	-	-	-	27	18th
				99	Jorge Lorenzo	18th	6th	10	-	7th	5	350	World Champion
2013	MotoGP	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha YZR-M1	46	Valentino Rossi	18th	1	1	4th	-	1	237	4th
				99	Jorge Lorenzo	17th	8th	1	5	4th	2	330	2.
2014	MotoGP	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	46	Valentino Rossi	18th	2	6th	5	1	1	295	2.
				99	Jorge Lorenzo	18th	2	6th	3	1	2	263	3.
2015	MotoGP	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	46	Valentino Rossi	18th	4th	3	8th	1	4th	325	2.
				99	Jorge Lorenzo	18th	7th	3	2	5	6th	330	World Champion
2016	MotoGP	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	46	Valentino Rossi	18th	2	6th	2	3	2	249	2.
				99	Jorge Lorenzo	18th	4th	3	3	4th	2	233	3.
2017	MotoGP	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	25th	Maverick Viñales	18th	3	2	2	5	4th	230	3.
				46	Valentino Rossi	17th	1	3	2	-	-	208	5.
2018	MotoGP	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	25th	Maverick Viñales	18th	1	1	3	1	2	193	4th
				46	Valentino Rossi	18th	-	1	4th	1	-	198	3.
2019	MotoGP	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	12	Maverick Viñales	19th	2	1	4th	3	1	211	3.
				46	Valentino Rossi	19th	-	2	-	-	1	174	7th
2020	MotoGP	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	12	Maverick Viñales	1	-	1	-	-	-	20th	2.
				46	Valentino Rossi	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
total						364	115	119	87	104	83	7 world titles

Web links

Commons : Yamaha MotoGP Team  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ MotoGP 2011 - Yamaha: special paintwork for the 50th GP anniversary . In: autobild.de . ( autobild.de [accessed on October 28, 2016]).
2. ↑ New Yamaha special paint job - motorcycle at Motorsport-Total.com . In: Motorsport-Total.com . ( motorsport-total.com [accessed October 28, 2016]).