May 5, 2017 (Toronto, ON) – Six young Yamaha stars are about to embark on an exciting chapter in their racing career at the third edition of the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp.

The selected students will be taken under the wings of Valentino Rossi, the VR46 Riders Academy and its riders, three-time English Flat Track Champion and two-time American and European Flat Track Champion Marco Belli, and many more racing experts from May 10-14, 2017, to improve their racing skills.

As with the two previous editions, the new Master Camp riders will travel to Rossi’s hometown of Tavullia in Italy. There they will receive instruction and guidance to further their racing careers during an extensive training program.

For the third edition, participants were chosen from among young Yamaha riders based in Asia, Oceania, and North America, depending on their age, talent, and championship standings. The new Yamaha VR46 Master Camp rider line-up includes Yamaha Motor Canada’s Tomas Casas (17) who is the first Canadian rider to be selected for the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp. “This is a lifelong dream to be able to learn from one of the greatest motorcycle racers who ever lived in Valentino Rossi. I feel like I have been walking on air since I was notified. I want to thank Yamaha Motor Canada for giving me this wonderful opportunity and allowing me to pursue my passion,” said Casas.

The planned curriculum has full-time VR46 Riders Academy instructors teaching the Master Camp students various riding techniques as well as providing them with the necessary technical knowledge to make it on a World Championship racing level. The participants will put their skills to the test in various racing activities on YZ250F’s at Rossi’s Motor Ranch, on YZF-R3’s at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, and on mini-bikes at a go-kart circuit.

There will be lots of fun and laughter over the five days of training, but the hours will be filled with hard work. The stakes are high for the young riders as they hope to follow in the footsteps of second Master Camp edition participant Apiwat Wongthananon (Thailand, 23), who last year secured Yamaha’s first-ever AP250 Championship Title and went on to kick start his international racing career as a member of the VR46 Master Camp Team in the Moto3 Junior World Championship class of the 2017 FIM CEV International Championship.

News, images and updates from the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp will be posted regularly on its dedicated media channels throughout the third edition:

Yamaha | VR46 Riders Academy Special Site

race.yamaha-motor.co.jp/sp/vr46ra

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP website

Yamahamotogp.com

Facebook

@YamahaVR46MasterCamp

Twitter

@YamahaVR46MasterCamp