The Yamaha racing family were out in force to showcase the past, present and future of Yamaha Motor Corporation at this year’s world renowned Goodwood Festival of Speed, which took place on the country estate of committed motorsport enthusiast the Duke of Richmond over the weekend of 12 – 15 July.
The event, enjoyed by more than 100,000 people on each of the three days, also provided the perfect backdrop against which to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Yamaha’s iconic YZF-R1.
The past was represented by the original Yamaha YZF-R1, which was launched to critical acclaim back in 1998. Eric de Seynes, President of Yamaha Motor Europe, rode the bike, resplendent in Yamaha’s distinctive red, white and black livery, up the famous Goodwood hill in front of a capacity crowd on Friday.
Representing the present on Friday were McAMS Yamaha British Superbike riders, Josh Brookes and Tarran Mackenzie, who made multiple trips up the Goodwood hill aboard a range of current Yamaha machinery, including Michael van de Mark’s race winning Pata Yamaha WorldSBK machine and a 2018 YZF-R1 race bike sporting a one-off 20th anniversary livery.
The two British Superbike riders also showcased two of Yamaha’s current road models, with Mackenzie ascending the hill on the Yamaha YZF-R1M alongside Brookes on the ground-breaking Yamaha Niken.
On the Saturday and Sunday Yamaha’s current WorldSBK riders, Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark, shouldered the riding responsibilities. The Pata Yamaha pairing, both race winners this season, were joined by World Superbike legend and firm fan favourite, Noriyuki Haga.
While Haga thrilled the assembled crowd aboard both the 1998 and 2018 versions of Yamaha’s YZF-R1, van der Mark did his first runs up the 1.86km Goodwood hill on his double race winning WorldSBK machine before switching to the road going YZF-R1M.
Lowes completed most of his hill runs on a 2018 YZF-R1 race bike with the same 20th anniversary livery that the Yamaha Factory Racing Team will sport at this year’s Suzuka 8 Hour race. The 27-year-old British rider did however manage to squeeze in one run with the Yamaha Niken, his first experience of this unique machine.
It wasn’t just Yamaha’s human riders that were in attendance at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed however. Representing the future was Yamaha’s famous MOTOBOT, which took pride of place in the event’s Future Lab exhibition.
The autonomous motorcycle-riding humanoid robot was one of the star attractions of the Future Lab, generating massive interest amongst the thousands of visiting motorsport fans, who were given a tantalising glimpse into the MOTOBOT project by Project Director, Amish Parashar.
To watch the Goodwood Festival of Speed video highlights click here
Alex Lowes
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team
“What a fantastic experience. There is no other event quite like the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where motorsport fans can get up close and personal with so many riders, drivers and their machines. It was nice to be a part of that but, for me, it was also incredibly interesting to see the history of motorsport collected together in one place. It was the perfect setting to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Yamaha YZF-R1 alongside Michael and Nori, who I hadn’t met before. He’s a great guy.”
Michael van der Mark
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team