The lives of no less than five young riders are about to change for the better as they've been selected to take part in one of the world's most appealing road racing program, the all-new Yamaha VR46 The Master Camp.
Like its name already says, The Master Camp is a training program that brings together two of the biggest names in Grand Prix racing, Yamaha - the triple crown winners in 2015 and Valentino Rossi, arguably the greatest motorcycle rider of all times.
Rossi has been running a riding school for quite some time now, the VR46 Riders Academy, and he is also fielding teams in the GP championship. This new move proves that Rossi only plans to become involved even more with Yamaha's Grand Prix future, and this is great news for his fans.
Peerapong Loiboonpeng (Thailand), Galang Hendra Pratama (Indonesia), Soichiro Manimimoto (Japan), Kasma Daniel Bin Kasmayudin (Malasia), Imanuel Putra Pratna have already received a medical check on July 2, after being given a special tour of the Yamaha Motor Racing SRL headquarters in Gerno di Lesmo, Italy.
The five young guns will then take part in a 5-day program designed especially for them, with theoretical training and on-track practice with expert trainers, among which the name of the nine-time World Champion stands out.
All these young riders are currently racing in motorcycle championships in Asia, Thailand, and Japan, obviously using Yamaha machinery. It is yet uncertain whether Yamaha envisages finding the next Rossi this way, but we can suspect that they are collaborating with The Doctor to spot the most talented riders worthy of investing in.
Preparing the future for both Yamaha and himself
Valentino Rossi was the first of the two Yamaha riders to sign a new contract in MotoGP for 2017 and 2018, in a way, forcing his teammate Jorge Lorenzo into a deal with Ducati. The rumors indicate that Rossi is in no way doing this for the money, as his paycheck from Yamaha is significantly smaller than what he earns from endorsement contracts and his own company.
We remind you that Rossi owns VR46 Racing Apparel, a company that manufactures merchandising products for many MotoGP riders, and he also signed a multi-year contract as the official Yamaha merch manufacturer.
Seeing Rossi tieing up his name once more with Yamaha in the quest for new talents that might, maybe, make it to the Grand Prix series is a good indicator that he has no plans to cut the bridges that link with to Iwata, and this is great.
Thus, we might see Rossi becoming an advisor for Yamaha after he hands his pro racing leathers, and, considering his immense expertise and talent, we can guess that Yamaha is going to great lengths to retain his services, in whatever form they might be.
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