Yamaha MotoGP Racing or Yamaha Factory Racing is the official Italian-Japanese factory team of Yamaha in MotoGP, currently competing as Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team.[1]
History
The team was founded in 1999 following the retirement of Wayne Rainey, who had run a factory-supported team in the 500 cc class for the previous two years, with Kenny Roberts and Giacomo Agostini having run their own works supported teams before him.[2]
The team was originally based in the Netherlands but was relocated in Italy in 2002.[3]
For 2008, Yamaha had a unique line-up with Rossi being joined in the team by Jorge Lorenzo. Although the pair were fighting for the title from different pit boxes (as Rossi chose to use Bridgestone tyres and as Lorenzo continued with Michelin), Yamaha operated as one team and not two separate entities.
The title was won dominantly by Rossi who won 9 of the 18 races and finished on the podium in every race except for two.
Even though this was the learning year for Lorenzo, he was able to cruise to victory at Estoril and finished 4th in the championship.
In 2009, Yamaha dominated MotoGP with Rossi winning the title and Lorenzo finishing second.
The pair won 12 out of the 17 races, and Yamaha won the Constructors' Championship.
After seven years with Yamaha, Rossi left the team to compete with Ducati for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.[5]
Rossi's second stint
He rejoined Yamaha again for the 2013 MotoGP season.[6]
Titles after Rossi
They won the 2015 Championship with Jorge Lorenzo[7] before going on a 6 year wait for their next world championship title with Fabio Quartararo.[8]
The V4 engine era
Yamaha fielded a total of 5 bikes in the private test in Brno Circuit and one of them was the V4 engine tested by Andrea Dovizioso. This was the first time the Italian test rider had tested the new engine and underwent a fairly closed test on the circuit that had just been resurfaced on 1 and 2 July 2025. Dovi was not allowed to comment on his experience. In addition, it is not certain from the time records which bike the 39-year-old rider tested because all of them were recorded as Yamaha test bikes.[9]
The V4 will make its full debut in 2026 with all 4 (Factory and Pramac Racing) Yamaha bikes set to use the V4 Spec.[10]
Grand Prix motorcycle results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
12345Non-bracketed number refers to the number accumulated with the motorcycle, with number in brackets referring to the total accumulated for the season.
↑Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP riders scored 198 points, but the team was deducted 20 points after failing to respect MSMA technical changes protocols.[11]
↑Yamaha scored 254 points as a manufacturer, but were deducted 50 points after failing to respect MSMA technical changes protocols.[11]
↑Garrett Gerloff initially replaced Valentino Rossi during round 12 and competed in the two Friday practice sessions while Rossi was waiting for his COVID-19 test results, but was withdrawn from the race when Rossi was declared fit to race after testing negative for COVID-19.
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