2011 Yamaha YZF-M1 unveiled

As the return of top tier motorsports edges closer, another team has unveiled its livery for the 2011 MotoGP season, the reigning title holders Yamaha.

With a flourish the wraps came off the new 2011 Yamaha YZR-M1 race bike at the Sepang race track in Malaysia, ahead of the second pre-season testing phase, with 2010 world champion Jorge Lorenzo looking nonplussed alongside new team mate Ben Spies.

Both riders will be punting the new Yamaha YZR-M1 race bike during the three day testing at Sepang, which starts today. Lorenzo upbeat about the new bike, saying: "I'm very happy to be here again preparing to start another season riding with Yamaha. Winning the World Championship last season was an incredible feeling, but now we start again."

Despite his best poker face, the Spanish maestro revealed that confidence in and around the Yamaha factory team is at a high point with the launch of the new bike: "I have a great crew and with the hard work of the Japanese engineers over the winter I feel confident we can fight for more success this year."

All eyes will be on the Sepang time sheets this week to see if the new Yamaha (and it's riders) is a match for Honda's triumvirate riding the RC212V big horsepower machine.

As the Yamaha Factory Racing team took the wraps off its new 2011 YZR-M1 MotoGP prototype motorcycle, there is no doubting that the team has the confidence to be on the podium at every round, and with a bevy of new components and features on new look bike, anticipation is mounting to see how well it performs both in testing, and on race day.

The new livery is very blue, Yamaha's corporate colour, and will no doubt make its way onto a production sports bike at some stage this year. The new livery also celebrates Yamaha's 50th year of involvement in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, and a special logo affixed to the fuel tanks of the M1 race bikes celebrates this milestone.

Both riders also get new racing suits, and Ben Spies will no doubt be keen to impress alongside Lorenzo. Spies was in high spirits at the launch, telling the gathered media: "We worked really hard last year to earn the seat with the Yamaha Factory team so it's a great feeling to be here alongside Jorge. It's obviously a special year for Yamaha with the 50th Anniversary of GP racing celebrations so I'm really thrilled to be part of it.

As the 2010 Rookie of the Year, Spies showed impressive race pace and is already talking up the new 2011 YZR-M1 race bike - and he likes the new look which is always a good thing!
"The bike's feeling really good, we've got a few days more of testing now to really shake it down and fine tune the set up and we'll be ready to go," said Spies, adding: "I'm loving the corporate blue colour scheme, I'm a big fan of the design."

It will be an interesting week for MotoGP pundits but the next few months, and particularly the first race in Qatar, will provide an interesting build-up to the season following the cancellation of the first Formula One Grand Prix race of the year in Bahrain after violent protests.

The first race of the MotoGP calendar takes place on March 17 in Qatar, which has so far only been mildly affected by the rising political angst that has swept through the Middle East region.