Yamaha MotoGP Racing or Yamaha Factory Racing is the official Italian-Japanese factory team of Yamaha in MotoGP.[1]
The team was founded in 1999 following the retirement of Wayne Rainey, who had run a factory-supported team in the 500 cc class for the previous two years, with Kenny Roberts and Giacomo Agostini having run their own works supported teams before him.[2] The team was originally based in the Netherlands but was relocated in Italy in 2002.[3]
In 2003, Checa was joined by Marco Melandri. The team had an average season with no podium finishes. For 2004, Valentino Rossi joined Checa at the team. Rossi got 9 wins and won the championship. Colin Edwards joined the team for 2005, when Rossi once again won the championship, collecting 11 wins. Rossi and Edwards stayed with the team for 2006. Rossi earned 5 wins and finished 2nd in the championship. For the 2007 season, both riders remained with the team riding the new 800cc Yamaha YZR-M1. Rossi had 4 wins and finished the season 3rd overall.
For 2008, Yamaha had a unique line-up with Rossi being joined in the team by Jorge Lorenzo. Although the pair were fighting for the title from different pit boxes (as Rossi chose to use Bridgestone tyres and as Lorenzo continued with Michelin), Yamaha operated as one team and not two separate entities. The title was won dominantly by Rossi who won 9 of the 18 races and finished on the podium in every race except for two. Even though this was the learning year for Lorenzo, he was able to cruise to victory at Estoril and finished 4th in the championship. In 2009, Yamaha dominated MotoGP with Rossi winning the title and Lorenzo finishing second. The pair won 12 out of the 17 races, and Yamaha won the Constructors' Championship.
After seven years with Yamaha, Rossi left the team to compete with Ducati for two seasons.[5] He rejoined Yamaha again for the 2013 MotoGP season.[6]
Grand Prix motorcycle results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
^ abcdeNon-bracketed number refers to the number accumulated with the motorcycle, with number in brackets referring to the total accumulated for the season.
^Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP riders scored 198 points, but the team was deducted 20 points after failing to respect MSMA technical changes protocols.[7]
^Yamaha scored 254 points as a manufacturer, but were deducted 50 points after failing to respect MSMA technical changes protocols.[7]
^Garrett Gerloff initially replaced Valentino Rossi during round 12 and competed in the two Friday practice sessions while Rossi was waiting for his COVID-19 test results, but was withdrawn from the race when Rossi was declared fit to race after testing negative for COVID-19.
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