Yamaha reveal 2015 MotoGP machines for Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo: pictures

THE covers have come off the machines that Yamaha hope will give Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo the edge in the 2015 MotoGP title fight.

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January 29, 2015 - 11:09AM

Moto GP

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THE covers have come off the machines that Yamaha hope will give Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo the edge over Marc Marquez when the 2015 MotoGP season gets underway.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team held their official launch at the Madrid headquarters of title sponsors Telefonica, Rossi and Lorenzo revealing the colours their Yamaha YZR-M1 bikes will carry throughout the new season.

The Yamaha was almost a match for the all-conquering Honda by the end of the season, while both riders hit their straps to score a swathe of late-season victories.

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Rossi was back near his best in 2014.

Despite advancing years, the soon to be 36-year-old Rossi was the revelation of the 2014 season. A change of crew chiefs and of his riding style saw the Doctor back on the kind of form that took him to his nine world championships.

After taking two wins on his way to finishing second in the championship to the dominant Marc Marquez last year, Rossi is setting his sights even higher in 2015.

“The desire to start a new challenge is really huge, especially after the positive end of the 2014 season,” Rossi said.

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“Finishing second in the world championship was important, but this year the goal is even higher. Yamaha have worked so hard during the winter, and me too. I am in good shape, I feel good, I’m training a lot and I’m ready to begin the hard work at the Sepang Test.

“It will be a very interesting season. I will have very strong opponents, starting from my teammate who will surely be better prepared this winter.”

Lorenzo endured a torrid 2014.

While Rossi’s stocks rose in 2014, Lorenzo endured arguably his most difficult year in MotoGP since his rookie season in 2008.

Surgeries to repair old injuries in the pre-season left him struggling for fitness, while a crash at the Qatar season-opener and his jump-start brain explosion in Austin meant his title challenge was virtually over before it started.

Throw in a Bridgestone rear tyre that lacked the edge grip his riding style demands, and his crisis of confidence in wet conditions at Assen, and you have a season that Lorenzo would clearly be happy to forget.

But 2015 is a new year, and Lorenzo enters it in much better shape, better prepared, and with his desire to reclaim the world championship stronger than ever.

“I am much more motivated than ever to start this season,” Lorenzo said. “I have prepared well physically and I feel good mentally too.

“This year we have high hopes with the new M1 because in 2014 we found at the end a good base and we could fight for the podium regularly during the second half of the season.

“I am convinced that this year things will change and both Yamaha and I will put all our efforts to try to achieve the goal that is simple: to fight for the title.

“Last year many things happened but I’ve also learned a lot and I think we can compensate and make a great year.”

The off-season cessation in hostilities is almost at an end. The first of MotoGP’s winter tests gets underway at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit from February 4-6.

CLOSE UP PHOTOS OF THE 2015 YAMAHA M1 MOTOGP BIKE