YAMAHA UNVEILS ROSSI AND EDWARDS' NEW YZR-M1S IN JAPAN

The new 2005-specification Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1s were displayed for the
first time in their new livery today, during a press conference attended by
Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards. The reigning World Champion and his new
team-mate were the guests of honour at Yamaha's '2005 Motor Sports Press
Conference', which took place in Tokyo this morning. Team Director Davide Brivio
and Senior Management representatives from Yamaha Motor Company joined the two
riders on stage to talk about Yamaha's plans for MotoGP in 2005 and beyond.

Valentino Rossi, now in his second season as a Yamaha rider, talked about his
year so far and his goals for the forthcoming season. "We have done a lot of
test runs during the off-season. Things aren't quite 100% yet, but the machine
and the engine are already much better than last year. It's nice to see the M1
in its final 2005 livery. I hope I can win the title again this year on this new
bike, but winning is never easy! I was very happy to win nine rounds in last
year's Championship and I think that is a good target for this year too. I hope
everyone will be cheering for me!"

Rossi's new team-mate Colin Edwards, who recently turned 31, spoke about his
return to Yamaha after a seven-year absence. "I was last with Yamaha in the 1998
season in the World Superbike Championship and I am very happy to be back. I saw
how good the team and machine were last year, so I was excited when I got the
offer to come back to the Yamaha side. I am also glad that there will be a US
round at Laguna Seca this year for the first time in a while. I hope to have a
bit of an advantage there, but I will be giving my best shot in all the races."

Team Director Davide Brivio, who enters his fourth season as the Yamaha Factory
Team Director, commented on the new bike and the task facing the riders. "We're
very pleased with the look and design of the new bike, as well as with its
performance so far during testing. This is going to be a very exciting season
and a big challenge for both riders. After this we are flying directly to
Phillip Island for our fourth test of the year and we hope to continue the good
work we've been doing so far with the development of this new bike, with the aim
of having it ready for the first race in a month's time."

Senior Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Company Tsuneji Togami, Senior General
Manager Masao Furusawa and Shigeto Kitagawa, head of the Engineering Department
in charge of developing the 2005 YZR-M1, were three of the Yamaha Motor Company
representatives present at today's Japanese event.

Mr. Togami launched the press conference by stressing the importance of Yamaha's
race activities for fulfilling Yamaha's corporate mission of "We create Kando -
Touching your heart", saying, "Through our motorcycle racing activities we want
to stimulate the motorcycle racing scene, to bring motor sports closer to people
and to help raise the next generation of people who will lead these sports into
the future."

Mr. Kitagawa then highlighted the four key goals of the YZR-M1 development
project in 2005 as improving the balance of the machine's handling stability,
boosting acceleration performance and top speed, balancing high power with fuel
economy, and making the machine more robust in terms of its adaptability to
different track conditions. "Besides winning a second consecutive rider title,"
he commented, "We also intend to go for the manufacturer's title with the new M1."

Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards now fly directly to Phillip Island, Australia
for three days of testing from 9th-11th March, before returning to Europe next
week for the first of the two official IRTA tests in Barcelona.