FIRST LOOK: Rossi, Vinales unveil Monster Yamaha MotoGP colours
This is the new Monster Yamaha livery with which Valentino Rossi and M✨averick Vinales will race during the 2019 MotoGP season.
The official M1s have been dressed in Movistar colours since 2014, but now take on a darker black-and-blue look for the arrival of Monster Energy, previously title♛ sponsor of Tech3 Yamaha, until the French team switched to KTM and Red Bull for 2019.
This is the new Monster Yamaha livery wit💫h which Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales will race during the 2019 MotoGP season.
The official 🤪M1s have been dressed in Movistar colours since 2014, but now take on a darker black-and-blue look for the arrival of Monster Energy, previously title sponsor of Tech3 Yamaha, until the French team switched to KTM 🏅and Red Bull for 2019.
Lin Jarvis, managing director of Yamaha Racing, said: "We like the new colours of the bike a lot. 🌄It's more aggressive and I think that is what we need to be. We need to adopt the attitude of 'beast mode on' to be world champions."
Although the nine-time world champion failed to win a race last season, for the first time as a Yamaha rider, he still finished as the top M1 with third place in the🐼 championship standings behind Honda's Marc Marquez and Ducati's Andrea D꧒ovizioso.
"The bik🍬e looks great, more aggressive with the black and green alongside༒ the blue," said Rossi. "We are a little bit like the 'Men in Black'!
"It's a shame the holiday༒s are finished but we are excited and ready for the new season.
"I think [Vinales and I] are a 'good couple': He is young - unfortunately, I am not! - but I hav𒆙e a lot of experience. We fight together on the track, but we have good respect off-track.
"All factory teams work together now, the two riders, so 🐲we always follow what Maverick does with the bike. He is fast and brave and it's good to have him as a team-mate."
Vinales broke Yamaha's record losing-streak with their 𒊎only victory of last season, at Phillip Island, on his way to fourth in the points. The Spaniard has switched from the #25 to #12 for his third season on an M1, as well as changing crew chief.
"The bike looks beautiful!" Vinales said. "I can't wait to start and for me the holidays ♋have been too long, I want to be on th💦e bike and see the steps forward.
"I feel more confident with Esteban [Garcia, new crew chief] on the team.🀅.. With all the changes being done with my crew and the bike, I feel we can ඣdo it.
"Valentino and I battle many times, but it stays on the track♚ and when we take off the helmet we stay friends. I like this."
Yamaha fi📖nished 2018 with continued doubts over its engine choice for this season, with Rossi and Vinales offering different verdicts on the two options given to them for post-season testing at Valencia and Jerez.
It is not yet clear if a further new engine design wi😼ll be available to try at Sepang this week, when the pair kick-off their 2019 track activities alongside their rivals at the official test from Fe🎶bruary 6-8.
"We have to work hard because our opponents made a good step in recent years," Rossi warned. "For me the ꦑkey in modern MotoGP is the 🅠tyres, we always work to save the tyres.
"It's a difficul🐽t job, very precise. You can make a difference with your riding style but must also work hard with the engineers. This is the target for this season."
"Our expectations are that you guys [Rossi and Vinales] go down to the last round fighting for the ti📖tle," declared Monster's Mitch Covington.
Peter has been in the paddoc⛦k for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story a﷽nd Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
