Yamaha 'fully committed' to MotoGP

Many Japanese manufacturers have cut back their racing activities in recent months, with Honda leaving Formula 1, Suzuki and Subaru pulling out of the World Rally Championship, and Kawasaki ending its works involvement in MotoGP.

But the premier motorcycle racing series has managed to retain Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki alongside Ducati, and while Jarvis declined to make any long-term promises, he said Yamaha had no doubts about its MotoGP programme at present.

"As everybody's very aware, not only in MotoGP but in all sports and in our daily lives, it's a very difficult moment with the collapse of the global economy since November last year," he said.

"I think we are fortunate because Yamaha has shown its commitment by continuing to support the sport with four riders. We were obviously very successful with our efforts last year, and in some other sports we've seen some teams stop and others have difficulty continuing to raise the funds.

"At this moment the business is very difficult. We're at the beginning of the sales season for motorcycles, so nobody knows the future. But at this moment I can say we're fully committed."

Jarvis said that Yamaha company president Takashi Kajikawa still believed that racing was a worthwhile marketing exercise, and that while the team might have to make some cuts, he expected it to remain in MotoGP for the long-term.

"President Kajikawa very much recognises the importance of racing to the brand," said Jarvis.

"We're looking at how we can manage our activities, and our costs. Yamaha is fully, fully committed and will be doing everything to keep the performance at the top level this year."