Yamaha celebrates 60th anniversary with special WorldSBK livery

Yamaha Motor Europe have unveiled a new one-off livery for this weekend’s WorldSBK round in Catalunya to celebrate 60 years of racing. 

Yamaha began it’s road racing journey back in 1961 before taking a first official win in 1963. 

Fast forward 60 years and Yamaha could very well end the year with two world champions in the two biggest classes. 

Fabio Quartararo has a substantial advantage in MotoGP with five rounds left, while Toprak Razgatlioglu leads the WorldSBK standings by seven points over Jonathan Rea. 

Both the Pata Yamaha team of Razgatlioglu and Andrea Locatelli will run the new red and white liveries, as will GRT riders Garrett Gerloff and Kohta Nozane. 

Speaking about the new livery which will also be run in the FIM Endurance World Championship Bol D’Or, Andrea Dosoli, Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager said: "Over the last 60 years, Yamaha has been one of the main players in Grand Prix motorcycle road racing and we’re all very proud of this incredible history. 

"Today, we can look back fondly on the great success achieved together, running some of the biggest names in this sport, and how we have been able to expand our racing activities to all corners of motorcycle racing.

"This livery is a salute to where it all began, at the French Grand Prix in 1961, and we look forward to seeing the red and white colours return to our Yamaha R1 bikes in WorldSBK and EWC, as well as our Yamaha R6 in WorldSSP. 

"We would like to use this moment to thank all of our fans, supporters, and staff that have made this all possible. 

"Thank you to all our sponsors, we are grateful that they have agreed to be a part of this one-off livery with us, and a special thanks goes to Remo Gobbi at Pata Snack for his continued support and collaboration."