Yamaha Motor Australia press release:

A new name, a streamlined presence and a unified look headline the changes to the GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing program for season 2017.

Still boasting the biggest junior motocross support program in Australia, taking in 11 riders across five states, the GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing Team will now have a unified look as all riders will be under the Ficeda Accessories umbrella, using their extensive range of gear, hard parts and accessories.

Each rider will be kitted out wearing AXO gear, Just 1 helmets, SCOTT goggles as well as using high quality components like DID chains, NGK spark plugs and Dunlop tyres in a huge investment from Ficeda.

“It’s fantastic that we have been able to bring all of Yamaha Junior Racing in house and make it a truly national team,” explains Ficeda Brand Manager, Joel Ryan. “We have worked hard to increase our product range in the off road market and investing in YJR is a great way to showcase our products at a national level with a great group of riders and families.”

Yamaha’s in house hard parts department, GYTR (Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing) has also stepped up with increased support for the team. Each rider will now have at their disposal a greater range of GYTR products including a potent GYTR YZ125 motor kit developed in Europe as well as performance products designed for the YZ85, YZ125 and YZ250F.

“While we have always been a part of Yamaha Junior Racing, we are excited to step up our involvement and offer them a great range of support this year,” states, GYTR Sales and Marketing Manager, Greg Haring.

“We also proud to have our high performance Yamalube lubricants used exclusively by the riders so we are totally committed to junior development in Australia.

“The riders not only provide us with great results and publicity but also assist in developing products for the YZ85 and YZ125. We wish them every success in 2017,” Haring ends.

The complete 11 rider line up for 2017 consists of Mat Fabry, Jake Turner, Kaj Radcliffe from WA. Thomas and Alex Larwood as well as Taj Gow Smith from South Australia, Liam Andrews and Ty Sharp in Victoria, Bayley Clancy and Rider Kingsford in NSW while Jack Kukas and Levi Rogers hail from Queensland.

The rider list takes in a huge variety of ages and sizes. Starting at nine years old on the YZ85cc small wheel machine all the way through to 15year old riders competing on the championship winning YZ250F. GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing covers a large spectrum of junior development.

But while the support of the team has been unified, there will still be a state based mentor for each rider with former professional racers and Y-Aim agents Cameron Taylor and Shane Metcalfe leading the way in Victoria and South Australia respectively. Darren Thompson, Peter Strickland and Scott Bishop will work with the NSW, WA and Queensland based riders.

“Yamaha Motor Australia sees the YJR program as the first yet vital step in our internationally recognised Step – up initiatives,” states Yamaha Motorsport Manager, Ray Howard. “For over 12 years since the program went nationally, YJR has consistently produced high quality riders that have gone on to bigger and better things, and especially in recent years, reaped plenty of success in the professional ranks and landing major national championships.

“We have a diverse group of riders in 2017, ranging from small wheel 85cc all the way through to the 15 years 250cc class. We welcome the new faces into the team and know we have again unearthed some talented riders. We look forward to watching all 11 riders develop as the year progresses and wish them a successful 2017 campaign,” Howard ends.

The full list of team sposnors includes: Yamaha / GYTR / Yamalube / AXO / Dunlop / Just 1 / Scott / Unifilter / JT Sprockets / DID Chains / NGK / Serco Custom MX Decals / YMI / YMF / Pro Taper.

To follow GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing on social media, Yamaha Junior Racing AUS on Facebook or @yamaha_junior_racing_aus on Instagram.