Fiat and Yamaha formally tied the knot on Monday to create the Fiat Yamaha Team which will compete in the MotoGP championship with seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi as its chief rider.
"I think this collaboration between Yamaha and the Italian automaker is a great idea, I like it a lot. Let's hope it works out," Rossi said at the presentation of the new team.
Looking ahead to the upcoming season, which kicks off this weekend in Qatar, Rossi said "we've been very fast on all the test tracks and so we're pretty confident. In the last two tests we had some trouble with the tires. Let's hope Michelin gives us the right ones for Qatar".
Yamaha had been without an official sponsor since Camel decided at the start of the year to drop out of MotoGP after four years.
The original idea of bringing together the world of four wheels and two wheels took shape in the weeks that followed and was in part thanks to Rossi's links with the Turin automaker, which is also Ferrari's parent company.
Rossi last year flirted with the idea of switching to Formula 1 and Ferrari gave him several opportunities to try out their car. In the end he decided to stick with motorcycles.
Speaking at the presentation of the new team, Rossi said "I don't know whether this will lead to greater collaboration between me and Fiat, but I can't rule it out".
A statement from Fiat said that the alliance with Yamaha in MotoGP was part of its strategy to target "a younger clientele with innovative products as well as with initiatives of great appeal and high emotive impact".
The two-year alliance with Yamaha, Fiat continued, "fits into this context because the MotoGP championship attracts young racing fans more than any other. The undisputed star of the two-wheel circus is Valentino Rossi, the creative rider of the Fiat Yamaha Team".
Rossi has already announced his intention to stick with Yamaha next season as well.
The bikes ridden by Rossi and his teammate Colin Edwards will carry both the Fiat and Yamaha logos and a new team logo has been designed which also includes the Italian flag.
Aside from on the bikes and the racing suits of the riders, the Fiat logo will also appear in all team presentations, in the track hospitality areas, the pits and on the trucks used for transporting the bikes and team equipment.
