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Yamaha will carry out
its first test of the 2004 MotoGP season this weekend with a
new-look line-up. Spaniard Carlos Checa and his new team-mate,
MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi, will compete for the
Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha Team, Yamaha's wholly-owned Factory Team.
Norick Abe and Marco Melandri will ride for the Fortuna Gauloises
Tech 3 Team, the privately-owned French team.
Both teams will be running Factory Yamaha YZR-M1 motorcycles and
will be running under the Altadis-Yamaha sponsorship program.
Valentino Rossi will ride in the blue of Altadis' leading
international Gauloises brand. Team-mate Checa's Yamaha YZR-M1, on
the other hand, will sport the red and
silver of Altadis' Fortuna, the market leading tobacco brand in
Spain, and strongly developing internationally.
Similarly in the Tech 3 team Marco Melandri will ride in Fortuna
colours with Norick Abe in Gauloises. The unusual move suits Altadis'
marketing strategy with Rossi representing their leading
international brand while
Checa stays linked to Fortuna for a second year. The Fortuna brand
is also present on the Italian market and hence Melandri's 2nd year
in Fortuna colours while Norick Abe is important for Gauloises in
the Japanese market where the brand was recently relaunched in
autumn 2003.
The four Yamaha riders will start their 2004 testing programme with
three days at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia from 24 to 26 January.
The test will be Valentino Rossi's first on the Yamaha YZR-M1.
This announcement also confirms that Brazilian rider Alex Barros
will leave the Altadis-Yamaha set-up despite being halfway through a
two-year contract with the Franco-Spanish tobacco group. The breach
of his contract with sponsor Altadis is currently being discussed by
the parties concerned and a final agreement of terms has yet to be
reached.
Yamaha is expecting considerable media interest in Rossi's first
ride for the Japanese manufacturer but media should contact the
teams' press officer if they wish to attend organised media events
in Sepang |
