Image: Foremost Media.

Yamaha will expand its national off-road presence into the 2023 season, headlined by Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) title-holders Kyron Bacon and Josh Green.

Outright AORC winner Bacon and Green will remain with ShopYamaha in E1 and E2 respectively, contesting AORC, the Hattah Desert Race and other select events.

JGR Yamaha returns with the line-up of seven-time EW champion Jessica Gardiner, Jeremy Carpentier and JG title-winner Dannielle MacDonald. New for 2023 will be the introduction of the bLU cRU support team, consisting of Cooper Sheidow (E1), Wil Dennett (EJ) and Jett Yarnold (EJ).

For the first time, Yamaha Junior Racing (YJR) will have a presence in Australian off-road competition, that effort consisting of Harley Hutton and 2022 J2 winner Marcus Nowland.

“This is something we have talked about for some time and we have been able to bring it to fruition in 2023,” explained ShopYamaha Off-Road Racing team manager AJ Roberts. “There hasn’t been a consistent progression within off-road and now I feel we have things in place to not only support, but encourage riders within off-road.

“Cooper, Wil and Jett are all young and upcoming riders who we feel have the right attributes to race at the highest level in Australia and the formation of this team should allow the riders and families to focus on their riding and training to become better for the future.

“YJR has had a successful record in motocross, so it was about time we transferred it across to off-road. Yamaha Australia has a development path in motocross as well as road racing and now we have a complete path in off-road for both male and female riders. Young riders can progress through YJR, to bLU cRU support or JGR before going onto the ShopYamaha team.

“Yamaha Australia has always been a huge supporter of off-road and this just adds to what is already a big investment in Australian racing. We look forward to working with all the Yamaha riders in this year’s series and can’t wait to go racing in 2023.”