Yamaha Racing and MotoGP shook hands and organized the official event that will mark the unveiling of the 2016 bikes, plus the liveries of the two factory riders, Valentino Rossi and the 2015 World Champion Jorge Lorenzo.
As expected, Yamaha went on to have both their pilots in the event, despite the strong enmity between the two. Last week, Rossi uploaded a photo on Facebook, showing him and his bike, covered, and stating that the machine would soon be revealed.
Certain internet users rumored that Rossi might unveil his 2016 M1 in a separate event, but that sounded a bit far-fetched. Regardless of how deteriorated the relationship between the two riders is, it was hard to believe that Yamaha would make any decision other than to stick with the corporate schedule.
Yamaha top officials gathered to reveal the first bikes of the pre-season
The unveiling in Barcelona brought together not only VR46 and JL99 but also top brass from the factory and the team, including team principal Lin Jarvis, Massimo Meregali, Kouichi Tsuji and more.
It is yet uncertain if Yamaha's decision to be the first MotoGP team to unveil their new bikes and liveries has anything to do with the triple crown from last year. Lin Jarvis was rather vague and said the two things could be put in relation, but that was about everything on the matter.
Also as expected, nothing about the frictions between Rossi and Lorenzo; most likely, Yamaha and the event hosts agreed on the matter beforehand and made sure that the skeletons remained in the closet.
The bike liveries show the same sponsor array, with the green Movistar M letter dominating the fairing, and the (unmoved) Monster logo in its place, with Eneos, Eurasian Bank, Blue Core, Abarth and Yamalube complementing the big picture.
More than the bikes' looks, we're interested in seeing how they will perform with the new tires and new, unified ECU software. The first test is scheduled for February 1-3 at Sepang in Malaysia. Funny thing, Marquez, Rossi and Lorenzo meet for the first time this year at the very venue that started the whole mess at the end of the 2015 season...
Plus, we're also waiting for the Ducati GP16, the seamless transmission Suzuki GSX-RR and the all-new Aprilia!
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