Movistar Yamaha MotoGP unveil 2014 livery

Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi showed off their new Movistar Yamaha MotoGP colours on Wednesday in Qatar.

Riding the 2014 YZR-M1 up the Losail start-finish straight in front of the world’s key motorcycle media, the riders displayed the team’s new livery, featuring of course the logo of new title sponsors Movistar.
Lorenzo and Rossi were joined at the presentation by Kouichi Tsuji, General Manager of Yamaha Motor Co.'s Motorsports Division, Yamaha Motor Racing’s Managing Director Lin Jarvis and Telefónica Spain’s Director of Media, Luis Velo to reveal the new livery.

Now the wait is over and the riders will take to the track under the floodlights in just over 24 hours to begin practice for round one of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship, the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar.

“Finally we can start the engines!” enthused Lorenzo. “The forthcoming championship is about to kick off and that sounds great after a long winter. As we were able to improve our performance at Phillip Island with the new tyres I feel quite confident for the very first race. I undertook three surgeries during the wintertime to take out some plates and metal pieces from the collarbone and the hand so I returned to full fitness quite late. In general I feel nearly at 100% and I guess in Qatar we won’t have any problems to push to the maximum.”

“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, following the unveiling of the new Movistar Yamaha MotoGP livery. I love the new bike and the new colours. Posing with the new bike today has been the best incentive to kick-off the season!”

Rossi added, “I’m so happy because we are finally here at the start of the first race weekend of the year. We have worked very hard in the testing to make some of my issues from last year better and we have found some really good speed. I have been able to be very competitive and been with the fastest riders during testing. I’m very happy with the work done to my M1 over the winter that has helped me to be fast; we have a competitive bike to fight for the podium this weekend.”

“When I received the news of the arrival of Movistar, I was very happy. It is a great thing to start the year with such a fantastic sponsorship announcement. We must all be very happy for that. Yamaha are very excited, and I am as well. I hope that Movistar will enjoy the journey with us this year and bring luck and podiums! Surely it is a greater incentive to do even better.”

Pons HP 40 team present 2014 project

The Pons HP 40 Moto2™ team have officially presented their 2014 livery and their exciting rider line-up of Maverick Viñales and Luis Salom at Tuesday’s test in Jerez.

The Sito Pons-run squad which guided Pol Espargaro to the intermediate class title last year will use all their experience this season to help rookies Viñales and Salom adapt to Moto2 competition. Viñales is of course the reigning Moto3™ World Champion, whilst Salom won seven races last year.

Pons commented: “It’s great to officially unveil our colours for 2014 here in Jerez. We’re now at the last test of the preseason and Maverick and Luis have pushed extremely hard to be ready in record time for the higher speeds and heavier workload of Moto2 competition.”

“I’m sure there are good times ahead for us, both riders have great potential and they both have the right work ethic.”

Ducati Team 2014 project presented at Munich’s Audi Forum

Ducati Team’s sporting programme and the Desmosedici GP14’s technical details were presented at Munich’s Audi Forum on Monday.

Confirming the close ties and synergy between the Bologna-based manufacturer and the Audi Group, the official presentation of the Ducati Team was held at the Audi venue inside Munich Airport.

In the presence of a carbon black Ducati Desmosedici GP14, which had just returned to Europe following the recent tests in Malaysia and Australia, Claudio Domenicali (Ducati Motor Holding CEO), personally introduced the team, represented on the stage by Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager), by Paolo Ciabatti (Ducati Corse Sporting Director) and by the two riders, Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow.

The sporting activities for the new season and the technical details of the new Desmosedici GP14 were illustrated, in the light of the recent tests and the decision to take part in the championship in Open configuration.

"As I have said recently" declared Claudio Domenicali at the start of the press conference, "in MotoGP we also want to find again those values that have led us to obtain successful results in the past. We are ready for the new MotoGP season, firmly convinced that the enthusiasm, the passion and the technical competence of our team, together with the support of our sponsors and partners and all of our ‘tifosi’, will enable us to tackle this commitment with determination. Cal and Andrea are very talented riders, and Luigi Dall’Igna will surely be able to manage the resources available in the best possible way."

Claudio Domenicali then invited onto the stage Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Audi AG for Technical Development. The German manager underlined that Audi and Ducati share the same passion for racing.

Then it was the turn of Luigi Dall’Igna, Ducati Corse General Manager, who presented the Desmosedici GP14. He said, "Coming to work in Ducati Corse is probably the most important challenge of my life. Working in MotoGP as General Manager for one of the most famous and prestigious manufacturers in the world – Ducati – is an important achievement but also a great responsibility."

"I am very proud of the choice that I have made and just as motivated by the results of testing at Sepang and Phillip Island. At the moment the most important thing is to continue with the development of the bike, and the choices that we have made will allow us to move forward and improve. We are satisfied with the lap times in the last tests, but also the consistency of the times, which are backed up by the riders’ comments. Ducati has significantly reduced the gap to its rivals and we are confident we can make further steps forward during the season."

Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati Corse Sporting Director, as well as MotoGP Project Manager, added: "After three difficult seasons without any significant results, the changes in organization that we have made in our structure for this season are producing their first results. The entire Ducati Team is very motivated and united, and the encouraging results we obtained in the last tests give us hope for the championship that is about the start. We know that we still need to do a lot of work to further reduce the gap separating us from the frontrunners, but we are convinced we have made the right decisions and so we are very optimistic."

From 8.30pm CET on Monday evening Ducati will officially unveil their 2014 MotoGP™ livery.