Yamaha Motor Australia press release:

Yamaha Australia’s official Under 19 motocross team, GYTR Yamaha, are all tuned up and ready for the gates to drop at the opening round of the MX Nationals this weekend at Horsham, Victoria.

The team enters the season with plenty of testing and bike development under their belts during the start of 2015 and with the talented Wilson Todd and Mitch Evans at the controls, they are expected to be right in the thick of the action throughout the year.

Cairns based Mitch Evans is enjoying his move to Yamaha over the off season and has gelled well with the YZ250F. Evans comes into the first round in good form after winning some local races in North Queensland but with Horsham being his first major event in the pro classes, he has set himself modest goals and looks forward to racing on a national stage.

“In 2014, I raced the Rookies event at Appin in conjunction with the MX Nationals so it was good to see how it all works and I know what I’m in for when I get to Horsham. The move into seniors has gone smoothly and it’s exciting racing different people on tracks that develop and change throughout the day.

“The team has been awesome and the bikes are running great. This is the first time I have really done testing and it’s helped me learn a lot about setting up a bike and how good they can perform.

“I can’t wait for the championship to start and get the racing under way,” Evans ends.

Wilson Todd had a change of scenery during the off season, moving down to Victoria and living with his 2014 team mate, Jed Beaton. Together the pair have worked hard over the break and enjoy riding and training as they continue to push and compete against one another.

Todd kicked on in the later stages of 2014, winning round nine of the MX Nationals at Gladstone and then going on to win the Queensland Supercross Championship. He hopes to carry that form into the opening round and get his 2015 campaign safely under way.

“Training and riding with Jed and Ross Beaton has been unreal and getting to ride new tracks with other fast riders has helped a lot.

“Round one is not about making statements, it’s about building good points and working my way into contention to win this championship. MXD are doing the full 10 rounds this year so it’s a long series and consistency will be extremely important,” Todd offers.

The off season has gone well for the GYTR Yamaha team with both riders working hard and the support from the industry has been strong again.

“Like riders who try to improve every year, as a team we try to do the same,” said team manager, Scott Bishop. “We look at the bikes, the riders, their training and also the products we use and hope to make small improvements across the board and I feel we have done that heading into 2015.

“We have secured plenty of sponsorship for the team and welcome partners such as ETS Fuel, Sony Action Cams, Unit Clothing as well as CV4 and Cycra. Like everyone on the team, I have had enough of the off season, let’s go racing.”