In an early February announcement, Yamaha Motor Corp., USA announced the launch of a new ATV Racing Support program. This new initiative is committing a potential race win bonus payout of $100,000. These bonuses will be available to Side-by-Side and ATV racers who compete in select series and classes while driving Yamaha 2016 or newer YFZ450R and YXZ1000R models. The goal of the company is to get their quads on the track more often and show the racing world what they're made of. "Yamaha's bLU cRU has been a very popular supercross, motocross and off-road motorcycle racing program, and we're excited to expand it to ATV and SxS racers this year," said Donnie Luce, Yamaha ATV / Off-Road Racing Coordinator.
Racing apparel is also part of the deal as registered racers will receive a $45 credit upon approval, which can be used online for Yamaha branded racing gear. Championship bonuses this year will be broken down by class and series. Eight SxS Racing Series prizes are available from $5,000 up to $15,000. The ATV Racing Series features two prizes, one of $12,500 and the other $10,000. In addition to the cash bonuses, local dealerships will provide trackside support for select series. This can include emergency parts support and free technical assistance.
More of the incentives are aimed at the YXZ1000R used in Side-by-Side races. Yamaha claims it is "the world's first and only pure sport SxS, and features an industry-exclusive five-speed sequential shift manual transmission and three-cylinder 998cc engine in a SxS." The new design debuted in 2016 and lived up to the hype by winning top positions and titles in the LOROS Production 1000 UTV class in both Southern California and Arizona. The YXZ1000R also won the TORC series Pro Stock UTV class.
We're excited to see more of these machines on the tracks during the 2017 racing season. If Yamaha has their way, more of their designs will be crossing the finish lines first.
