Prize money can’t buy!

To mark the launch of the awesome new Yamaha YZF-R1, which was rolled out across Europe in the winter, Yamaha Europe decided to initiate it’s own form of Europe-wide lottery, but with a prize that money could not buy.

For a lucky 24 riders, hailing from all over Europe, their visit to their own country’s special R1 launch day saw them win a special contest to take their place on an R-series Yamaha Advanced Riding Course (ARC) in Spain.

The benefits of their competition victory were seemingly never-ending and worthy of envy from anyone interested in bikes. Getting kissingly-close to the MotoGP fantasy factory at the Catalunya GP, visiting the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia for some expert track instruction on the stunning R6 and R1, and also meeting two of their biggest racing heroes, Troy Corser and Colin Edwards.

What could be better?

How about also visiting the site of the 32nd America’s Cup yacht race, staying in luxurious hotels each night and being winded and dined in some of the finest restaurants imaginable?

Hosted by Yamaha Motor Europe, the ARC featured participating riders from 15 countries, not to mention on-track appearances by double World Superbike Champion Troy Corser and a coaching session from another two times WSB champion, Colin Edwards.

It all began with the lucky few and their importers’ representatives meeting up in Barcelona for the Catalunya GP, where they got to visit the Fiat Yamaha MotoGP team garage, and where one overly keen winner even tried to sling a leg over Valentino Rossi’s priceless M1 Yamaha.

All who saw the Barcelona race marvelled at the fight between Rossi, Stoner and Pedrosa, but watching from a dedicated hospitality unit trackside was an experience that kicked things off with a substantial jolt of adrenaline for all the competition winners.

The next day it was off to Valencia in preparation for the second stage in a higher state of R-series reality.

After arriving from Barcelona on Monday morning, the winners sat down to lunch - but before the last spoonful of dessert had been consumed new Yamaha star rider Corser had arrived to meet and greet the entire company, and eventually impart his hard-won wisdom on how to tackle the Valencia circuit.

A WSB legend, for more reasons than only his two world championship titles, Corser is a new-boy on a new R1 Superbike in 2007, having joined Noriyuki Haga in the fully-supported Yamaha Motor Italia team. On the podium first time out at Qatar, Corser showed the way around certain selected corners of the Valencia circuit, having already done some demonstration laps for an appreciative audience.

Corser himself, veteran of many a promotional event, was impressed with the ARC set-up, and welcomed a break away from the pressures of racing to meet some fans.

“This whole thing has been great and it’s always nice to meet people who are enthusiastic about riding their bikes,” said Corser. “Sometimes on race weekends you can’t speak to fans as much as you would like to but you can at something like this. That’s what it’s all about, allowing the riders to interact with us.”

With trackside preparations completed for the actual riding day, it was back to the hotel before a visit to the incredible America’s Cup base, set inside the vast Valencia Marina basin. An evening stroll around the boatyards was polished off by a fine dinner in the Club Goletta, before everyone set their mind to the serious fun of track riding next morning.

On arrival, last minute briefings preceded the first of a total of six sessions offered to every rider, with each having the choice of prepared R1’s or R6’s to take to their personal limit.

As was the case the day before, temperatures were blessedly high, and track conditions near perfect for the four groups of riders, who were marshalled and educated both in the classroom and on the tarmac by the California Superbike School instructors.

Midway through the day, shortly before the lunch break, one such classroom session was interrupted by the appearance of special guest star number two, Colin Edwards. As befits an obsessively keen golf fan, he arrived in some style to share some of the knowledge he has racked up in the Fiat Yamaha race team. Edwards showed up driving a Yamaha golf cart, straight into a rapturous wave of applause. “I guess we surprised a few people today with the royal chariot golf kart appearance!” said Edwards. “It was nice to see so many riders today, impressive how many of them are here. Just the idea itself is cool, to give something back to the people who support you. We were testing in Catalunya after the race but I was happy to come and help out.”

With Corser riding and Edwards explaining the way round, the competition winners watched two true masters of the art of racing team up to explain how tracks should be approached.

Corser was of the opinion that Valencia was an ideal place to conduct the ARC, especially the June weather was as warm and welcoming as expected. “The weather has been great and that made for a good riding day,” said Corser. “This track is perfect for it, safe, not super-fast so it’s not intimidating for the less experienced guys. It was interesting to see the different levels of the riders who are here but I am sure they will all go away much more confident within themselves.”

After the lunch break, and a well-deserved rest for the guests who were to have a total of six sessions over the day, and a group photo was taken to make the event, before certificates were handed out to each of the 24 participants in attendance, before the tired but still enthused competition winners got their last two sessions finished on track.

Everyone got something even more valuable to take away - higher levels of confidence, no matter what their abilities before they turned up. Andy Ibbott, the chief instructor, stated, “The main thing we had to bear in mind for this training session was the wide range of different experience and track abilities between riders. There were a lot of riders who had never even been on a track before, so we had to meet everyone’s requirements

The comments of the competitors themselves were testimony to how well received the whole adventure in speed had been, and to how much each rider had learned from the start to the finish.

Said Renzo Moscou, Yamaha Motor Europe Motorcycle Marketing Manager, “This new initiative has exceeded our expectations and the expectations of our customers. It shows our commitment to the people who want to ride our bikes and the bikes themselves have made a big impression on the people who came here. We had a good response to the competition to win places and after the experiences this time I know that there will be great interest if we do anything like this in the future. All I can say is keep an eye on any new developments at your local Yamaha dealership.”

Adrian Green - UK “I have done about ten trackdays before this but this is much better. There are sometimes instructors on those trackdays but I have never bothered before so it’s been so useful to have the training we have had here. This is much better than just a trackday.”

Luke Gough - UK “I’m loving it. I’m an instructor of learner riders on the road back home so it feels strange to be on the other side of the learning experience. I’ve only done one trackday before so it’s great to ride on track like we are at now and I am learning so much. I can’t think of one particular highlight that stands out more than any other one, they have been so many highlights.”

David Dunks - UK “This whole thing just gets better all the time, the structure of it is fantastic. The weather can’t be better and we’re getting quicker and quicker all the time. I have learned loads; things I would not even have thought about riding on just everyday roads. It has to make me a better, safer rider.