Star-studded line up for Yamaha's 50th anniversary celebrations
Friday 28 January 2011
TT
Legends of motorcycling and exotic machinery will help celebrate Yamaha’s 50th anniversary at the 2011 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy.
Yamaha Classic Racing Team has organised a mouth-watering line-up to join the special Parade Lap which is being held as part of the legendary Japanese manufacturer’s 50th anniversary.
It will be a very special year for the TT, marking not only 50 years of Yamaha, but also the 100th anniversary of the racing on the Mountain course.
The Dutch-based team has assembled an international field of multiple TT race-winners and World Champions, including Phil Read MBE, Chas Mortimer, Rod Gould, Dieter Braun, Kel Carruthers, Tommy Robb and Steve Baker.
Multiple World Champion and eight-times TT winner Read, Yamaha’s most successful rider, will ride the Yamaha RD05A 250cc that he took to the 1968 World Championship. One of the greatest names in TT history, Read will be making his first appearance on a Yamaha since the 1972 TT.
Germany’s Braun, World Champion in 1970 and 1973, as well as a TT winner in 1970, will be riding the Yamaha YZ634 350cc that seven-times TT winner and World Championship race winner Chas Mortimer raced in the Isle of Man in 1972, while Mortimer will parade on a Yamaha TZ750.
Australian Carruthers, who won the 1970 Lightweight 250cc TT, will be renewing his acquaintance with Rod Gould, the runner-up in that race who went on to win that year’s World Championship from Carruthers. Gould will be on a 1972 YZ635 250cc machine that he and Barry Sheene both raced in the World Championship.
Ulsterman Robb, popular winner of the 1973 125cc Ultra-Lightweight TT, is schedule to ride a YZ623cc machine.
The line-up also includes Finland’s Pentti Korhonen, riding a 350 4 cylinder RR08A, and Jos Schurgers, on the four cylinder RA31A 125.
This eclectic group of riders is completed by 750cc World Champion Baker, who was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1989. Known for his flamboyant riding style, Baker was the first American World Champion in the 1977 750cc championship, and he also finished runner-up to Sheene in the 500cc championship in the same year. In 1977 he also won the Daytona 200.
This will be Baker’s first appearance in the Isle of Man.
The team will also be bringing classic machines to display at the TT Grandstand from June 8. It is hoped the collection will include Read’s RD56 from 1964 and Bill Ivy’s 1966 TT-winning RA97.
In addition to the Parade Lap on June 10, the team will also be appearing in a Yamaha Classic Racing Team Parade on Douglas Promenade on June 8 as part of the night-time entertainment.
A ‘Dawn Chorus’ event, with echoes of morning practices, is scheduled for early on June 9, which will include riders and mechanics in period costume in pit lane with all of the bikes on display.
Fans will get the chance to meet their Yamaha heroes as part of the Day of Champions, lined up for the TT Grandstand on the same day.
Yamaha Classic Racing Team owner Ferry Brouwer said:
“We are delighted that Yamaha’s 50th anniversary is coinciding with the centenary celebrations of the Mountain Course and we are sure that the TT fans will enjoy the sights and sounds of these spectacular machines and the chance to see these legendary riders close up.”
Economic Development Minister Allan Bell added:
“We are very much looking forward to sharing this special year in the history of the TT races with the Yamaha Classic Racing Team and celebrating this 50th anniversary year with us.”