Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Riders Race Rossi at the Motor Ranch

Press Release
by Press Release

Some lucky kids from the Asian Roadracing Championship are getting specialized training at none other than the VR46 Rider’s Academy. Yamaha is chronicling their trip, and below is one of a series of press releases from the Academy. This time the students get schooled by The Doctor himself. -TS

Sticking to their usual schedule, Peerapong Loiboonpeng (Thailand), Galang Hendra Pratama (Indonesia), Soichiro Manimimoto(Japan), Kasma Daniel Bin Kasmayudin (Malasia) and Imanuel Putra Pratna made sure to complete a workout today before riding in the afternoon. They visited the Campo Scuola to run the equivalent of three kilometres under the baking Italian sun. The riders couldn‘t help but notice the fast pace VR46 Riders Academy‘s Andrea Migno and Francesco Bagnaia had, who joined Yamaha VR46 Master Camp during their morning outing.

After legging such a long distance, the riders were again treated to a well-deserved lunch break at Tavullia, before the headline act of the day started. Valentino Rossi was more than happy to meet the five talents at his Motor Ranch for a riding session together with the entire VR46 Riders Academy squad and welcomed them with open arms, but soon it was time for some serious racing.

After two days of diligent training and gaining knowledge it was time for the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp pupils to put their skills to the test in a race against the VR46 Academy Riders and other guests, such as Yamaha Motor Racing‘s Managing Director Lin Jarvis and four-time Italian Flat Track Champion, three-time English Flat Track Champion, two-time American and European Flat Track Champion and Yamaha VR46 Master Camp riders‘ riding skills trainer, Marco Belli.

Belli again took time today to show the five Master Camp riders around the flat track, giving them helpful tips on what are the best lines to ride during the races. Seeing them ride their YZ250Fs around the Motor Ranch, he couldn‘t hide his excitement about the progress the riders made.

“First of all, I want to thank Yamaha, its partners and the VR46 Riders Academy because it has been a good experience also for me. I can see a lot of improvement in the riders‘ skills already, compared to the first day, thanks to the exercises we gave them. They are doing better and better; mostly with throttle control and their body position.”

“The good thing is that they‘re still young; they‘re able to listen and able to do what we ask of them. We were a little worried at first because none of them had a lot of experience on flat track but, as I said, by giving them some constructive tips they were able to improve their riding capacity. I think this programme is unique and perfect for young riders to understand how to work on themselves to obtain results.”

Galang was the best scoring Master Camp talent in the first race, with a ninth place, and also took first place in the second race amongst just the five young riders, making him the first ever Yamaha VR46 Master Camp race winner.

VALENTINO ROSSI

We are only at the halfway point of the first Yamaha VR46 Master Camp and already I see the guys are very happy. They are having fun and are interested in whatever is being taught to them and this allows them to learn everything very quickly. They are doing different exercises to gain experience during this Master Camp. They have been at the gym along with the VR46 Riders Academy riders, they attended a theoretical lesson about suspensions and today they have trained with me and the “Academy Boys” at the Ranch. They are really good with the flat track bikes and they go very fast! I did several laps with them and I like how they ride! They also had a race and I enjoyed watching them on track, fighting for the glory to be the champions of the first Master Camp race at the Motor Ranch. The Yamaha VR46 Master Camp will continue for two more days. Tomorrow‘s schedule is again very busy and in the afternoon they‘ll challenge themselves with road bikes, so I am sure it‘s going to be another beautiful day!

GALANG HENDRA PRATAMA

We had a running session with the guys from the academy and I was very happy about that, but the best was this afternoon. I feel that this afternoon was the best way to improve my career and I also won the race amongst the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp riders so… Wow! When I return to Indonesia I will try to obtain a motorbike to ride on flat track, because it was such a good training and I don‘t want to stop progressing like this.

IMANUEL PUTRA PRATNA

It‘s hard to find the right words to describe these experiences we had today. This morning we were jogging with ‘Pecco’ and Migno and in the afternoon we all arrived together at the Motor Ranch, so it‘s like a dream come true. I learned a lot and ultimately I felt that I improved a lot compared to yesterday. I think it will mean great progress to my career.

KASMA DANIEL BIN KASMAYUDIN

First of all I want to thank Yamaha for this opportunity, without their support I would have never been able to be here to learn. I feel that this is the best training I could have had and a large part of the credit goes to Marco Belli, ’the King of Sands‘. I‘ve never had this kind of experience before, on flat track, but thanks to Mr. Belli‘s teachings I now want to buy a dirt bike to improve my flat track skills so can come back some time to show him how my skills improved.

PEERAPONG LOIBOONPENG

First of all I want to thank Yamaha to give us the opportunity to do something like this. I would like to get the opportunity to come here again to further improve my skills and race. I also want to say a special thank you to Yamaha Motor Thailand who has been supporting me since the start of my career.

SOICHIRO MINAMIMOTO

We all enjoyed today‘s programme a lot because we were at the Motor Ranch for the entire afternoon, but the session was more difficult than I thought, so it was a bit hard for me. It‘s a bit of a pity; I wanted to get a better result. I think I can use what I learned today in my future career. I will never forget what was taught to us today and everything that Marco Belli has explained us. We got to ride with Valentino Rossi. On track I saw him ride and it was beautiful: it was very clean and smooth and for sure I also learned a lot from him today.

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