The official announcement of the two-year partnership was made yesterday in Madrid, at the headquarters of the Telefónica Group, where the new livery of the YZR-M1 to be used by Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in the 2015 World MotoGP Championship was revealed.
The Scorpion logo, synonymous with “racing” and symbol of a heritage of victories and passion which gave rise to the birth of one of the great sensations in the cult of modern motor racing, is placed on the nose of the two M1s. To seal the partnership, the Abarth logo will also be visible in the Team’s official communications and interview backdrops, as well as on all key team assets.
Abarth will also provide Movistar Yamaha MotoGP with a number of FCA Italy vehicles all over the world. The assault on the world title will begin in Qatar on 29 March and will deliver the World Champion in Valencia on 8 November.
“The agreement comes from several shared values between the two brands,” says Marco Magnanini, Head of Abarth Brand for the EMEA Region. “Innovation, love for performance and passion for racing: these are the pillars that allowed our two brands to build this prestigious partnership.”
The flagship product of the sponsorship to Movistar Yamaha MotoGP is the 695 Biposto, the modern icon of the brand, which represents the ideal fusion of road and race cars, the “transfer” of racing thrills to a legally compliant car for everyday use. The Abarth 695 Biposto is the result of this exciting research: a 190 HP 4 T-jet engine (the most powerful ever installed on an Abarth road car), weighing just 997 kg, a weight-to-power ratio of only 5.2 kg/HP (the best in its category) and an acceleration of 0-62mph in just 5.9 seconds, and record agility thanks to its increased wheel track and compact body. Furthermore, it is the first road car in its category in the world at present to be equipped with a dog-ring gearbox.
With special bodywork bearing the colours and the blue and white squares in honour of the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team, an example of the “smallest of the supercars” was the star of a photo shoot, taken at Gerno Di Lesmo a few days ago in the presence of the riders Rossi and Lorenzo.
With a victory record of six World Champion titles won since 2004, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP is one of the most successful teams in the world. Similarly, Abarth has established itself as the automobile brand best able to convey the spirit felt within the circuits, and to share the innate sports values and desire to excel which are part and parcel of the Scorpion’s DNA and of the star two-wheel riders.
For Abarth, this marks a return in style on a Yamaha bike. In 2007, the official Yamaha YZR-M1 of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards appeared on the starting grid of the Australian GP in Phillip Island sporting a special Scorpion. The activity celebrated Abarth’s return to the world of two wheels where it had begun: it was, in fact, 1928, when a very young Carlo Abarth achieved his first sports successes in the saddle of a motorbike. The following year, he built his first personalised motorbike with the Scorpion logo.
