September 8th, 2008 by R.J.

All four of the Yamaha MotoGP riders took part in the world premier of the 2009 Yamaha R1 today in a suitably glittering show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo and Tech 3 Yamaha team-mates Colin Edwards and James Toseland were Yamaha’s surprise guests at the unveiling, w  hich took place in front of 3000 Yamaha at the Mirage Hotel.

The all-new version of the R1, Yamaha’s premium performance road bike, is more closely linked than ever to the YZR-M1, the MotoGP version, than ever. The premier-class riders each came on stage aboard a different colored version of the machine, before being interviewed about it’s qualities compared to their own MotoGP bikes.

Here’s what some of the riders had to say about the bike:

Valentino Rossi:
“This is a great bike, it’s very like my M1 and it’s exciting to see so many MotoGP qualities now appearing on a bike for the road. I think everyone who loves the R1 and Yamaha will be very excited about this new version, it’s fantastic!”

Jorge Lorenzo:
“I think this bike will be very popular. Yamaha have worked very hard to try to make it as like our M1 as possible and it seems they have done a fantastic job. The cornering and agility especially is great, which is of course one of the best qualities of the M1.”