Yamaha’s 2009 Motor Sports Season- kick starts at Chennai

Chennai, March 08, 2009: Buoyed by the grand success of last year’s racing event, which has become the high-point of the India racing calendar, Yamaha today kickstarted this year’s Motor Sports Season by organizing R15 Championship-Season 2009 at Irungattukottai Race Circuit.

Yamaha has been organizing this Championship since 2008, with the aim to take racing culture to new heights as also to keep the biking enthusiasts’ adrenaline pumping. Motor Sports has always been an important part of Yamaha’s corporate culture since the company’s founding and a way of expressing the ‘spirit of challenge’ that it values so highly. Yamaha plans to continue the Motorsports Season by organizing R15 races all around the year along with local races (Ride Tech Challenge) and touring in various parts of the country. Yamaha plans to inculcate in their customers and bring in India the racing spirit for which it is known for globally.

“Motor Sports & Bike Touring is a integral part of our Brand Image .It has always been Yamaha’s endeavor to promote motor sports along with safe biking. This season along with R15 racing championship we want to also promote local club level races in other parts of the country. Along with racing we will also start the touring season in 2009. Our belief is that both our bikes ( YZF R15 and FZ16 ) have brilliant touring capability . With these events we want to herald a safe motorcycling culture in India. There are thousands of our customers who want to participate in these events for the love of the sport and motorcycle touring. We are sure that Motor Sports-Season 2009 will be a step forward in that direction “ said Mr. Sanjay Tripathi, Division Head – Product Planning & Brand Management.

About India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd.

Yamaha made its initial foray into India in 1985. Subsequently, it entered into a 50:50 joint venture with the Escorts Group in 1996. However, in August 2001, Yamaha acquired its remaining stake becoming a 100% subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, Japan (YMC). In 2008, YMC entered into an agreement with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. to become a joint investor in the motorcycle manufacturing company "India Yamaha Motor Private Limited (IYM)".

IYM operates from its state-of-the-art-manufacturing units at Surajpur in Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad in Haryana and produces motorcycles both for domestic and export markets. With a strong workforce of more than 2000 employees, IYM is highly customer-driven and has a countrywide network of over 400 dealers. Presently, its product portfolio includes MT01 (1670 cc), YZF-R1 (998 cc), recently launched FZS (153 cc), FZ 16 (153cc), YZF-R15 (150 cc), Gladiator Type SS & RS (125 cc), Gladiator Graffiti (125cc), G5 (106 cc), Alba (106 cc) and Crux (106 cc).