Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Yamaha Pulls Out Of International Rally Racing Y amaha has officially ended its association with the Dakar Rally and the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. The only manufacturer to have participated in every edition of the Dakar Rally motorcycle event since its inception, Yamaha will now shift its focus from two wheels to four as they aim for success in the side-by-side cat- egory with the YXZ1000R SSV. The Japanese giant has enjoyed considerable success on the Dakar, taking the first two race wins in 1979 and 1980 with Frenchman Cyril Neveu on an XT500. Mr. Dakar, Stephane Peterhansel, took six victories for Yamaha in the 1990s and Italian Edi Orioli took the gold in the 1997 event. More recently, Yamaha made a concerted effort to break the KTM stranglehold on the event with the Monster Energy team with Frenchman Adrien Van Bev- eren coming achingly close to the win in 2018, only for mechan- ical problems to halt his charge with the finish in sight. "Yamaha has a long and storied history with the Dakar Rally, start- ing in 1979 at the first-ever edition and running unbroken into the modern era," said Eric de Seynes, President and CEO of Yamaha Motor Europe. "It's also an event that I personally have a real pas- sion for, having twice contested the event and for many years worked closely with Jean-Claude Olivier, who not only raced and won stages at the Dakar but also oversaw Yamaha's most success- ful pioneer period in the rally. "However, while the Dakar Rally has mainly succeeded in remaining close to its roots, even when it moved out of its spiri- tual home of Africa, the world in which it exists has changed con- siderably. Our off-road custom- ers now have different expecta- tions, and they look for different products, and we must cater for these if we are to stay connect- ed. It is for this reason we have decided to end our long history on two wheels at the Dakar Rally and in the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, while simultaneously strengthen- ing our commitment to racing the Dakar on four wheels with the Yamaha YXZ1000R SSV. "However, Yamaha's commit- ment to Rally Raid events with motorcycles is not over, but our future engagement must have a closer connection to our custom- ers and their aspirations, develop- ing further the Ténéré 700 po- tential towards a direction which will enable them to rediscover the more adventurous side of Rallies." Yamaha's withdrawal means van Beveren, Botswanan Ross Branch, and America's Andrew Short are out of a ride for the 2023 Dakar Rally and the re- maining 2022 FIM Cross-Coun- try Rallies World Championship, with round two scheduled for March 2 in Abu Dhabi. CN IN THE WIND P20 In a surprising announcement, Yamaha says that it is pulling out of international rally racing effective immediately despite a strong performance at the 2022 Dakar (pictured).