MotoGP – Red Bull was also interested in Yamaha

The Camel-Yamaha agreement can now be considered successfully closed, with the wait to find out about any legal moves by Altadis and to soon see the new livery of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards' YZR M1s revealed. It remains for all of us to know some background on the negotiations to take on the role of main sponsor for the Factory Racing Yamaha MotoGP. One of these concerns Red Bull, which in the early months of 2005 had shown interest in sponsoring the house of the Tre Diapason and, in particular, Valentino Rossi.

Red Bull, present in all motorsport disciplines (in Formula 1 even with two teams!), wanted to enter the 2006 MotoGP first with HRC, then with Suzuki, but without disdaining a thought for Yamaha. Obviously nothing was done about it, for various reasons. One of which, the cost of penalties to be paid to Altadis, which did not stop the JTI group…

Alessio Piana