• Yamaha Motorcycles

  The Japanese company was well known for its musical instruments, but in 1955 it began producing motorcycles. It began with simple and inexpensive machines but has grown to its position as a powersports powerhouse, offering some of the best sportbikes, cruisers and off-road bikes on the market. It ranks second only to Honda as the leader among Japanese manufacturers.
  
  
  

Yamaha announces AMA Road Racing teams

Road racing contingency program announced

By Motorcycle.Com Staff, Feb. 05, 2010

Yamaha will be represented by four teams in the 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing Championship.

The manufacturer announced October 2009 it would not run a factory team in the 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing season. Instead, Yamaha will be represented by four teams, the championship winning Graves Motorsports team, the Pat Clark Motorsports Team, Team Project 1 Atlanta and Team MPH Racing.

“I couldn’t be more excited for our effort this year,” says Keith McCarty, division manager for Yamaha’s racing department. “All of our associated teams will receive direct support from our in house management and our factory technicians, and this should give us the competitive edge to win.”

Josh Hayes, who raced for Yamaha’s factory effort in the 2009 American Superbike class, will join the Graves team on the R1. Hayes finished second to Mat Mladin in the 2009 season, compiling seven wins including a victory at Infineon Raceway that ended Suzuki’s 55-race winning streak.

Returning with Graves Motorsports is its Daytona Sportbike duo of Tommy Aquino and Josh Herrin. Herrin finished second in the 2009 championship despite finishing the season with four straight wins and eight podium appearances in the last nine races. Aquino finished eighth with three third-place finishes.

Hayes’ former factory teammate and reigning Daytona 200 winner Ben Bostrom headlines the Pat Clark Motorsports team. Bostrom will race in the American Superbike class alongside Chris Clark. Bostrom finished fifth in the 2009 American Superbike standings with eight podium results. Chris Clark, son of team owner Pat Clark, competed in the Daytona Sportbike class in 2009 and will be making his Superbike debut in 2010. Clark received the AMA Sports Road Race Horizon Award in 2008.

Racing couple Josh Hayes and Melissa Paris will ride Yamaha motorcycles in the 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing season.

The Project 1 Atlanta team will enter riders Dane Westby and Clinton Seller in the Daytona Sportbike class on a Graves Motorsports-prepped R6. Westby had four top-ten finishes in the class in 2009 while Seller scored a ninth-place finish in his debut round at the season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Rounding out the Yamaha family is the MPH Racing featuring Melissa Paris. The first woman to qualify for a World Supersport Championship round, Paris is the highest-placing female rider in Daytona 200 history, finishing 21st in the 2009 race, finishing ahead of her husband Hayes. Paris will compete in the Daytona Sportbike class with support from Yamaha and Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing.

Yamaha also announced its 2010 road race contingency program. The manufacturer is posting a total of $333,400 for various national and regional racing series. For more information about Yamaha’s 2010 contingency program, visit http://www.yamaha-motor.com/rrcontingency.