Yamaha

Originally starting out as a musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer, Yamaha branched out into the world of motorsport in the 1950s and immediately found success in the 125cc class of motorcycle racing.

The team began officially competing in World Championship Grand Prix events in the 1960s and won several races and titles in the highly competitive 250cc class, taking on fellow Japanese rivals Honda and Suzuki in the process.

The 1970s and 80s were an era of dominance for Yamaha, winning titles with Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts and Eddie Lawson.

The early 90s saw similar dominance in the form of Wayne Rainey who secured three consecutive titles from 1990-1992, but the team were soon surpassed by the more powerful Honda ridden by Mick Doohan.

It wasn’t until 2004 when Valentino Rossi shocked the world by moving from the dominant Honda to the inferior Yamaha that the team would find their footing again. With Rossi, the team secured four titles in six years during one of the sport’s most iconic periods.

The signing of the highly talented Jorge Lorenzo brought something of an internal dispute to the team, but Lorenzo secured all three of his premier class World Championships with Yamaha between 2010-2015.

Once again, Honda surged and Yamaha was left in the dust for the late 2010s, however things turned around with Fabio Quartararo in 2021 when the young Frenchman secured the Championship. Unfortunately it would be the team’s only title in the last ten years, and these days the team are in a rebuilding phase as they look to reassert themselves as a dominant force in MotoGP.

The first official premier-class champion to win aboard a Yamaha was Giacomo Agostini in 1975. This was followed by Kenny Roberts taking the crown for the Japanese giants three times in a row between 1978-1980.Eddie Lawson then also became a three-time world champion between 1984-1988 before Wayne Rainey became the team’s third triple champion with consecutive titles from 1990-1992.

Valentino Rossi won four titles with Yamaha between 2004-2009, making him the most successful rider in the team’s history.

Jorge Lorenzo secured three championships for Yamaha between 2010-2015 and Fabio Quartarao is the most recent of their champions with his 2021 title honours.

2025 was a rough year for Yamaha who were not competitive against the more dominant Ducati and Aprilia bikes. Despite this, Quartararo managed to secure no less than seven pole positions aboard the bike and would have taken a comfortable race victory in Silverstone if not for a ride-height device failure which forced him to retire from the race.

Alex Rins was largely scrapping for the lower-end of the points table, though he did make an impressive push for the podium in Indonesia before tyre wear issues dropped him down the order.