Image: Supplied.

Movistar Yamaha will display a new look for the 2018 MotoGP World Championship, officially launching the YZR-M1 race bikes of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales in Madrid, Spain, overnight.

Nine-time world champion, the 38-year-old Rossi, and former Moto3 title-winner Vinales, 23, will lead Yamaha’s factory charge this season. A revamped Movistar logo is a primary part of this year’s appearance.

“The team came to Madrid again this year, to be joined by Telefonica Spain for the unveiling of the new team colours before embarking on the 2018 season challenge,” commented Yamaha Motor Racing managing director Rossi.

“This will be the fifth year that our team continues its partnership with Movistar. The collaboration has led to many successes in the past, including the triple crown in 2015 and the team title in 2016. We have celebrated our achievements together, but we also learned together when things didn’t go our way. During the upcoming pre-season testing we will not be sitting still either. We see the start of 2018 as chance to start afresh – we’ll be taking new opportunities with both hands and have set the goal to push ourselves that bit further.

“We also have a new team logo and updated livery features that visualise the strong partnership between Movistar and Yamaha. I’m sure Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi are equally impatient as the fans to get the show back on the road. At Yamaha we’re very much aware that, though riders are on their own when they head out on track, racing is essentially a group effort. The riders’ dedication and commitment will be matched by that of our engineers and team staff, as well as the partners and sponsors, so I’m looking forward to a competitive season.”

As part of the team introduction, new Yamaha Motor Racing president and general manager of motorsports development division Kouichi Tsui also took to the stage for a Q&A session, confident the Vinales and Rossi combination will challenge for the crown this season.