Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP are #InItToWinIt in 2021 

16 February 2021: The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team recently broadcast a virtual reality teampresentation to officially open their 2021 campaign. The launch event’s theme #InItToWinIt is a team’s mindset now spearheaded by two young and competitive riders; Maverick Viñales and Fabio Quartararo.

This year marks Yamaha’s sixtieth anniversary of its first-ever Grand Prix. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team is raring to start the 2021 World Championship action – scheduled to be in Qatar in March. 

Using the latest technology, the team gave a virtual reality presentation to show off their fresh rider line up. The presentation included the 2021 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1s and its close relationship with title sponsor Monster Energy

The team launch was led by presenter Federica Masolin. She invited Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.’s MotoGP Group Leader Takahiro Sumi, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Principal & Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director Massimo Meregalli, Factory Yamaha riders Maverick Viñales and Fabio Quartararo, and Monster Energy’s Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing Mitch Covington to share their thoughts on the upcoming MotoGP action before the 2021 Yamaha YZR-M1s were unveiled.

Maverick Viñales joined the Factory Yamaha team in 2017 and immediately took two back-to-back GP victories. He went on to third place in the rider standings that year. Though the following season proved to be tough, the Spaniard kept his motivation high and won Phillip Island’s race. He finished 2018 in fourth place overall. In 2019, he scored two further Grand Prix victories, one in Assen and one in Sepang, and collected the overall bronze medal once more at the end of the season. 2020 was another challenging year. Though the Spaniard was in contention for the championship title until two races before the end, he ultimately finished in sixth place. 

Viñales said: “Last year was a crazy year for all of us. We have left that behind us now, and we’ll focus on what’s to come. With the two tests in Sepang cancelled I will have to wait a bit longer to ride my YZR-M1 again. It’s a long winter break, so I’m feeling impatient to get to work, but in a good way. After having enjoyed some time of rest during the off-season, we are all excited to start work again. We don’t have a lot of testing opportunities – just the Qatar Test – so we will have to be on our A-game straight away.”

Fabio Quartararo is a new entry to the Yamaha Factory team. Still, he is already a household name amongst MotoGP fans thanks to his successful years as part of the Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team. In his MotoGP debut year in 2019, he scored seven podiums in total (five second places and two third places), to end his first season on a YZR-M1 in fifth place. This earned him the Rookie of the Year title. The young Frenchman started 2020 with a bang too, securing his first premier class win at Round 1 in Jerez. He repeated his dominant performance the very next week at the same track. His third victory came in Catalunya, but he could not put his mark on the end of the season. He finished eighth in the overall 2020 standings.

Quartararo said: “I’m excited to start the new season, especially because I’m in a new team. It’s exciting to work with different people and learn new things. I’m looking forward to the Qatar Test – it can’t come soon enough! I’ll finally get to try my Monster Energy Yamaha YZR-M1 for the first time. I’ve seen quite a lot of photoshopped versions of my number on the Factory Yamaha bike on social media, but – however well they are made – nothing compares to the feeling I got when I saw the real thing for the first time. I can’t wait to start riding!”

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP bike’s colour scheme remains the same for 2021, with the team’s YZR-M1, the pit box, and the riders’ leathers sporting a ‘Monster Energy black’ to ‘Yamaha Factory Racing blue’ gradient. The perfect blend between Yamaha’s aesthetic and Monster Energy’s instantly recognisable claw branding is also represented in the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team logo and on the team uniforms. Yamaha has a long-term global alliance with the team’s title sponsor, Monster Energy Company, based on their mutual passion for racing.

A multiple-year title sponsor agreement with the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team was signed in the summer of 2018. It came naturally, as Monster Energy Company sponsors multiple Yamaha teams (among them the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP team since 2013) and riders (including Viñales and Quartararo) in various racing classes. The team is also pleased to announce that throughout the 2021 racing season the bike will continue to feature the slogans of Thai Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., PT Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturing, and Yamaha Motor Philippines, Inc. This starts from the extended Qatar Official Test held from 6th-7th March and 10th-12th March 2021.

Newly confirmed Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Test Team rider Cal Crutchlow will be joining Viñales and Quartararo at the Losail International Circuit. After a seven-year interval, the vastly experienced premier class rider will return to riding the YZR-M1 on 5th March 2021 in the Shakedown Test.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Team Principal, Lin Jarvis, said: “This year we are entering our ninth year with Monster Energy Company as our sponsor, and our third year with them as our title sponsor. We take great pride in the team’s long-term partnership with them and the strong global alliance between Yamaha and Monster Energy that forms an instant connection between the two brands. This bond cannot only be seen on track, through branding, but it’s also there behind the scenes and off track. The team wants to sincerely thank Monster Energy for their continuous support and commitment and their deep-rooted interest and passion for the sport. We greatly miss having our sponsors, partners, and the media and the fans, attend events such as today’s press launch. However, we hope that the virtual reality experience made them feel ‘close to us’ again. The use of this state-of-the-art technology is also a reflection of our current mindset. This season, we are not leaving any stones unturned to get the job done. Last year, Yamaha was the most successful manufacturer in terms of GP wins, with seven victories in total. Still, we missed out on the Championship Title. Our goal for this year is to win the MotoGP World Championship. With the arrival of Fabio paired with Maverick, we have two title contenders on board. So we know what we need to do – win races and maintain consistency all season long. With the improvements on the bike and the changes within our team, we are ready to do just that. Let’s go racing!”