The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team introduced its new Team Principal, Paolo Pavesio, and MotoGP stars Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins unveiled their 2025 bikes at the 2025 Yamaha MotoGP Launch Event at the W Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
The brand-new Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Team and the BluCru Pramac Yamaha Moto2 Team were also on hand.
This is a press release from Yamaha…
The presentation began with an introduction of Paolo Pavesio. Formerly Director of Marketing & Motorsport at Yamaha Motor Europe, Pavesio has taken over the roles of Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Principal from Lin Jarvis, who held these positions since the start of Yamaha Factory Racing in 1999 until the end of 2024. Jarvis remains involved within YMR’s management and stays on as Senior Advisor.
Maio Meregalli completes the YMR management as Team Director of the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP team, a position he has held since 2011.
During the 2025 Yamaha MotoGP Launch Event, Pavesio introduced Yamaha’s new midterm plan for 2025 and beyond, based on the ‘joint leadership’ of Yamaha Motor Company and Yamaha Motor Racing, while Meregalli explained how the collaboration with Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP will positively affect the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team and bike development in general, thanks to the availability of more extensive data and the synergy between the two teams.
The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP management was later joined on stage by riders Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins, who had the honor of unveiling their brand-new 2025 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1s, which were noticeably more blue than previous liveries.
While the rider lineup remained unchanged for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, the team did open its doors to some fresh talent inside the garage. Quartararo and Rins can count on the new recruits’ and the seasoned team staff’s full support in 2025. Quartararo’s side of the garage will be under the control of crew chief Diego Gubellini, while Rins’ side welcomes new crew chief David Muñoz, who has previously worked as a Yamaha team crew chief for Valentino Rossi.
The 2025 bike livery sports a refreshed camouflage look that perfectly blends Yamaha’s colors with the adventurous lifestyle colour scheme of Monster Energy.
Paolo Pavesio | Team Principal, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
“Yamaha is at the start of an exciting new phase that we like to call ‘The Blue Shift’. This is beautifully reflected in the 2025 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP bike livery where the blue signifies a more intense collaboration between all involved Yamaha parties.
“I’ve officially started in my new roles of Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Principal a few weeks ago, but my Yamaha journey is more than 20 years long. During those years I have enjoyed an international career being responsible for the production-based racing activities for a decade, and with the help of Senior Advisor Lin Jarvis, I feel confident that I can lead Yamaha into a new era.
“My goal as the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Principal is to help the team run smoothly and weather the inevitable storms that come along the way in a championship as demanding as the current MotoGP World Championship.
“I already attended some Grand Prix weekends last year and this has allowed me to get to know the MotoGP championship, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team members and riders, its team culture, our sponsors and partners, and the workflow of it all. I’m very excited to work with all parties involved in 2025 and in the years to come.
“We have two very talented riders in Fabio and Álex, who are both full of drive. They have treated the off-season not as a holiday but as a start-up period, using the available time to shape up. As Team Principal, I find that inspiring and promising. Not only does it set the tone for the season, it also shows they share Yamaha’s motivation to level up in 2025.
“I would like to take this occasion to extend a special thanks to Monster Energy Company. We are entering our thirteenth year with Monster Energy as our sponsor and the seventh season with them as title sponsor. They are a long-term partner not just of our team, but also of Yamaha teams in Supercross, Motocross, and Superbike, creating an undeniable bond between the Yamaha and the Monster Energy brand. We feel lucky to have Monster Energy as our partner because they have a genuine understanding and interest in motorsports and a long-term dedication to promoting the sport we love.
“We are sincerely grateful to all our sponsors and partners, so arriving back on top with them by our side will make the taste of success all the sweeter!”
Maio Meregalli | Team Director, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
“Today’s event was a very special occasion. We are used to launching our team by itself, but this year we were part of a bigger event: the 2025 Yamaha MotoGP Launch Event featuring the new Pramac MotoGP and Moto2 teams.
“Seeing Yamaha grow and acquire new teams, new talent, extra riders, extra test riders, and extra staff is filling us with confidence. Yamaha Motor Company clearly means business in 2025, and now it’s our shared mission to get Yamaha back onto the podium and to winning races in the MotoGP class again.
“We have never had any doubts that Fabio and Álex would be the right riders to continue with in the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. Their talent, determination, and ability to home in on bike improvement and bring the best out of the YZR-M1 makes them an obvious choice. As always, they can count on the team’s full support. We have some new people joining our staff in the garage, which creates a promising atmosphere of change. Everyone is highly motivated.
“After the preseason has ended, it will be a long season with 22 rounds and 44 races in total on the MotoGP calendar, from end-February to mid-November, but we see this as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Let the racing action begin!”
Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider:
“We are starting a new season for MotoGP and a new chapter for Yamaha. As a MotoGP rider you’re always excited to start the new season, try the new bike, see the new livery in action – and I have to say that I do really like the new livery and the extra blue; I think it will look good on track.
“However, this time the first test is even more exciting for us because Yamaha is about to begin a big project together with Pramac. I know everyone is super eager to start working together at the preseason tests, and this in turn makes me even more motivated.
“I’ve been training non-stop, so I’m at a good level. I think I’m the fittest I’ve ever been, and I can’t wait to start preseason testing. The sooner we start, the sooner we can go racing, and the sooner we see the fans cheering for us again.”
Alex Rins | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
“We all came together at the 2025 Yamaha MotoGP Launch Event–Yamaha Motor Company, Yamaha Motor Racing, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, and BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 – and you can tell it’s a big occasion and a key point for Yamaha’s participation in MotoGP: it’s racing history in the making.
“The motivation is high within Yamaha, the new teams, and also in our team. I think there’s a real excitement for what’s to come. The 2024 season was not easy, but what happened in 2024 is already in the past, and now it’s 2025 and we have the full support of Yamaha and the help of the new Pramac team to spur things on this year.
“I’ve have spent the preseason working hard and training a lot to jump on the bike at my maximum level at the first test in Sepang. I’m excited and impatient for the season to start!”
(Pictured L to R)
Jack Miller, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Rider
Massimo Bartolini, Technical Director of Yamaha Factory Racing
Gino Borsoi, Team Director of Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP & BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2
Paolo Campinoti, CEO of Pramac; Team Principal of Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP & BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2
Miguel Oliveira, Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Rider
Paolo Pavesio, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing; Team Principal of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
Fabio Quartararo, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
Massimo Meregalli, Team Director of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
Alex Rins, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Rider
Takahiro Sumi, General Manager of Yamaha Motor Company’s Motor Sports Development Division
Kazuhiro Masuda, MotoGP Group Leader; 2025 YZR-M1 Project Leader
Izan Guevara, BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 Rider
Alex De Angelis, Team Manager of BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2
Tony Arbolino, BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 Rider
Lin Jarvis, Senior Advisor of Yamaha Motor Racing
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