Tech 3 Yamaha Goes Monster
Cycle News Staff | March 27, 2009
The Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team unveiled their new livery this morning on the eve of the final pre-season test before the start of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship.
On a sunny morning in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, Texan Colin Edwards and Englishman James Toseland unveiled the new YZR-M1’s and their own riding gear sporting the Monster Energy graphics as part of the two-year deal to sponsor the French MotoGP team. Monster Energy also entered into a personal sponsorship deal with 2008 MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi.Edwards and Toseland helped bring the team to the attention of Monster Energy after successfully placing Tech3 fourth in the 2008 MotoGP Teams World Championship. The team took two podium finishes and 11 top-six finishes, making them the top independent team of 2008.But there was fallout at the end of the season when Edwards accused Toseland of poaching his crew chief Gary Reinders. Edwards and Toseland aren’t on speaking terms and the Jerez test marks the debut of a split garage, with a wall separating the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 garage in two. Walls were first used last year in both the Repsol Honda and Fiat Yamaha teams, but only because the riders were on competing tire brands. The Fiat Yamaha wall, separating Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, remains in place this year.
