Yamaha's new signings
By Team TMX on 27th Oct 16
Yamaha Motor Europe has confirmed that former British champions Shaun Simpson and Arnaud Tonus will race for the Wilvo Yamaha Official MXGP team in 2017 and 2018.
After two successful seasons in MX2 which has seen the team win with Valentin Guillod, the Dutch team moves up to 450s with Simpson switching from KTM and Swiss star Tonus returning to Europe after two years with Kawasaki in the USA.
Simpson scored his first GP win on a Yamaha and the 28-year-old Scot is looking forward to his return to the Japanese manufacturer.
"The last time I rode a Yamaha was pretty memorable for me and I still think it was one of the best bikes I've ridden in terms of feeling and comfort," said Simpson. "I can only look at the next two years with optimism. I'm happy.
"Louis [Vosters] has built a good team and support structure and knows the importance of the rider in the whole set-up. Arnaud is a great guy and we've worked together before. I'm sure the atmosphere of the team and the way to work will be on-point.
"Yamaha have more than proved their competitiveness in the last couple of years and it has been impressive to see how they have grown and invested back into MXGP - it feels like a good time to be ‘blue' again."
Tonus, the 2011 British MX2 champion, rode alongside Simpson for Steve Dixon's Monster Energy Yamaha team in 2012.
"It's a different class for me and even a different championship now with 20 GPs," said Tonus. "I'm happy to be back and of course I have my base over here so things are easier from that side.
"It will be a long season with a lot of competition on the 450 and so a big challenge but I'm really pleased to be with Yamaha again and Louis was very motivated to make this deal happen. I hope we can have good preparation and a decent winter of work. I'll be based between Belgium and Switzerland where I have a nice facility for practice.
"We're talking at the moment but I think the Geneva Supercross will be my first race on the Yamaha so we've got that to look forward to and I hope to get on the bike in the next two weeks."
