Yamaha riders visit Las Vegas en route to Indy

Finding time in their busy schedules for a visit to Las Vegas on Monday, Fiat Yamaha stars Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were in attendance at a fittingly glittering show - as the global unveiling of the new Yamaha R1 took place.

The factory Yamaha pair were joined by their Tech 3 counterparts, Colin Edwards and James Toseland, at the Mirage Hotel in the Nevadan party city, as the Yamaha premium performance road bike was presented, in front of 3000 Yamaha US dealers.

In his typically upbeat fashion Rossi commented, `This is a great bike. It´s very like my M1 and it´s exciting to see so many MotoGP qualities now appearing on a bike for the road. I think everyone who loves the R1 and Yamaha will be very excited about this new version. It´s fantastic!´

The Italian rider has every reason to be in a good mood at present as he heads into the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix this weekend with a 75 point World Championship advantage, on the back of his home triumph at Misano.

`The Doctor´ will visit New York on Wednesday for a media event before heading on to the new MotoGP circuit at one of motorsport´s most iconic venues - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - for the first time.

If Rossi outscores his Ducati rival and current championship runner-up Casey Stoner by just a single point at Indianapolis it will give him the opportunity to clinch a sixth premier class title at Motegi in the following round in Japan two weeks later.

Looking ahead to the Indy adventure Rossi commented, `I am still on a high from Misano, which was an amazing day, but now we are facing a different challenge. It´s very exciting to be going to Indianapolis, such a famous and historical place for motorsport, but it´s obvious from reports that it´s going to be quite a difficult race for everyone.´

He added, `Of course we have no data but we´re also expecting the surface to be quite tricky for the tyres. I hope the track is safe, we know the walls are quite close in some places but hopefully it won´t be a problem. We will find out on Friday.´

On the other side of the partitioned Fiat Yamaha pit-box MotoGP Rookie of the Year candidate Lorenzo is also still buzzing, following his own Misano success story. The young Spanish double 250cc World Champion put a difficult period behind him as he bounced back with a superb run to second place in the San Marino contest.

`As far as I´m concerned, I just want to stay on a good run of form and stay at the level we found at San Marino, where everything worked as we´d hoped once again,´ stated Lorenzo. `The whole team and myself have to focus throughout all four sessions because they will be crucial to prepare for the race. There are five rounds left and we have to keep fighting to meet our objectives.´