2015 Movistar Yamaha YZR-M1 Livery Revealed

The Movistar Yamaha factory team officially launched its 2015 MotoGP campaign, revealing the new livery for the YZR-M1 prototype with riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. The launch event was held in Madrid, Spain, at the headquarters of one of the team’s sponsors, telecommunications company Telefónica.

“The presentation of the new season is always a special moment,” says Rossi. “On this occasion I see for the first time my new bike, the new colors and new lines. Every time for me this is a big emotion. To present the bike and team means that a new season is about to start. The desire to start a new challenge is really huge, especially after the positive end of the 2014 season. Finishing second in the world championship was important, but this year the goal is even higher.”

The new livery is fairly similar to last year’s M1 paint scheme. The white striping along Rossi’s 46 and Lorenzo’s 99 have also been updated, while the stripe on the sides with the M1 logo have disappeared. Title sponsor Movistar’s logo has been revised, with its neon-green M now larger and more prominent. The smaller but similarly-colored M of Monster Energy returns, as do several other sponsors.

New sponsors this year are clothing provider Descentet, automotive coatings company Cromax and the Fiat Chrysler Automotive Group‘s Abarth brand. Fiat and Yamaha have worked together in the past, with Fiat previously serving as the team’s title sponsor while the Abarth scorpion logo was previously featured in a special one-off livery for Rossi and then-teammate Colin Edwards at the 2007 Phillip Island Grand Prix.

The 2015 M1 will next see action Feb. 4-6 at an official MotoGP test at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit.

“I love the new bike and I’m waiting to test it as soon as possible,” says Lorenzo. “With this unveiling starts a new challenge, an amazing challenge. I am much more motivated than ever to start this season. I have prepared well physically and I feel good mentally too. This year we have high hopes with the new M1 because in 2014 we found at the end a good base and we could fight for the podium regularly during the second half of the season.”